Vault: MLP One-Shot Collection
by Captain Alaska
Summary: What if Luna became obsessed with Black Ops II? How would Thunderlane and Rainbow react to Rumble and Scootaloo dating? Can Cougar give good dating advice to Pip and Featherweight? These are ideas that will be tackled in this collection of One-Shots. The stories will feature either pony characters or real life versions. Sparity, SoarinDash, SpitBurn, CheeriMac, CouJack & many more.
1. Luna Ops

**Vault: MLP One-Shot Collection**

_Hello fellow readers/authors! If any of you are curious, I've decided to start up my own short story collection so my story number doesn't astronomically explode. From the title, the stories will be in one-shot format, though some one-shots may get a sequel later on in the collection. Each new story will have a summary in the opening author note along with the title for the new one-shot. I hope this answered a few questions some of you may have, so please read, favorite, follow and most importantly, review!_

**Luna Ops**

_One normal Friday after the final bell has rung after school, VP Luna of Canterlot High is dreading the upcoming weekend; she has nothing to do to! However, her curiosity is piqued when she overhears several students talking about a popular FPS game: Call of Duty: Black Ops II. When she asks about the game, Luna's curiosity soars even more. So much more that she ends up dragging the five boys to Walmart to purchase a console and a copy of the game. How will Luna react to playing the game? Will the boys regret their decision once their Vice Principal discovers the joys of online gaming with them?_

**Disclaimer: I do not own MLP, PlayStation or Call of Duty. The things I DO own however, are my OCs Cougar and Checkered Flag.**

_I know Black Ops II will not allow you to create custom classes until level four, but I'm going to change it to being able to create a class right away._

_Also, my new avatar is my OC Checkered Flag crossing the yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway._

* * *

**(Canterlot High. Friday afternoon. 3rd Person POV)**

The hallways of Canterlot High School sat empty, not a sound was heard throughout the empty corridors. Yet, there was still tension spilling out from every single classroom of the huge school. So much tension that the machete from Friday the 13th could cut it open. The reason for the tension was quite simple; today was the most coveted and holiest of all school days: Friday. A day so sought after by students and teachers alike that many were already making plans the morning of Friday before arriving at school or even on Thursday evening for the weekend and even Friday evening. However, a sad sigh was exhaled from the office of Vice Principal Luna. "Another Friday, another weekend, and again, nothing to do," the saddened Vice Principal drummed her fingers on the top of her desk while her SamPhone 4 played Poisons' _Nothin' But a Good Time. _Luna was a very social Vice Principal; she talked with many of the students during passing periods or lunch time in the cafeteria, though many students feared her, for she was in charge of disciplinary actions and her office was always dark. Looking up at the clock, the Vice Principal clicked pause on her phone and sat up from her desk as the bell was set to ring very soon.

Setting the phone in her pocket, grabbing her purse and coat, Luna locked the door to her office and started to walk towards the exit to dismiss the students as they left the school. Her footsteps gave off the only sound within the ghost town-like hallways, giving it an atmosphere like that of Stephen King's _The Langoliers._ Suddenly, the loud bell rang out, echoing across the school. Luna leaned her back against the wall next to the doors, staying out of the way of the stampeding crowd of whooping and hollering students as they celebrated their two day and three night freedom. The vice principal gave off a smile as her two favorite students, Pipsqueak and Cougar, walked to their lockers with their three other friends, Rumble, Spike and Featherweight, and jammed their books onto the shelves of their little spaces, grabbed their backpacks and jackets and slammed their locker doors shut. "So boys, any important plans for the weekend?" Cougar questioned his friends that still hung around their bank of lockers.

"I'm taking Sweetie Belle to the _Hard Rock Cafe _Saturday afternoon for lunch," Pipsqueak replied and smiled giddily.

"Speaking of the Belle family," Spike placed an earbud into his left ear, "I'm taking my sweet Rarity to see a fashion history gallery at the Canterlot Museum Saturday," Spike bragged. Upon receiving looks of disbelief, the junior straightened things out, "She went with me to the newest Power Ponies movie last month without complaint, so I'm going with her to this as repayment," he explained.

"Well, Applejack and I are just going to cruise around town and maybe grab a bite at _Hard Rock Cafe_ Saturday afternoon like you and Sweetie Belle?" Cougar asked Pipsqueak.

"A double-date sort of?" the British accented junior tapped his chin, "yeah, that sounds like fun," Pip fist-bumped his older friend.

"But we do what we always do every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night?" Rumble cut in. Luna listened in on the five boys' conversation. She wasn't truly eavesdropping; the five were talking rather loudly.

"If you mean joining the crusade to 2025 to destroy or protect a stockpile of weapons on Black Ops II," Featherweight started.

"Then the T800 clan will be there!" Cougar exclaimed and high-fived Spike. Luna's eyebrows rose; she had heard about Call of Duty before, more specifically Black Ops II, but she knew very little about the game itself. All she knew was it took place in the year 2025 and was better than the newest Call of Duty which she heard flopped big time.

"Man Spike, I'll never forget your lucky kill on Highjacked with the M1216," Rumble shoved Spike's shoulder.

"Oh yeah?" Spike playfully shoved back, "how about Cougar's leap of faith and mid-air knife on Drone?" He asked.

"We can't forget Rumble's spectacular triple kill with his grenade launcher on Standoff," Pipsqueak mentioned.

"Boy, I can't wait to get home boys," Featherweight cracked his knuckles. The boys turned to leave the school and head home to start playing their favorite game when they were stopped by none other than their Vice Principal.

"Oh, hello madame," Pipsqueak greeted his favorite faculty member.

"Afternoon boys," Luna smirked, "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation about going to the year 2025 and killing people?" She asked, pretending like she didn't know what they actually said.

"In a video game yes, it's been a weekend tradition for us since the game launched in 2012 Ms. Luna," Featherweight explained.

"Well, I've nothing to do this weekend, so I was wondering if I could possibly join you boys in your little 'crusade' if you will?" She asked. Cougar, Spike, Featherweight, Pip and Rumble stood in silence at Luna's request.

"You?" Cougar asked, "you want to play Call of Duty with us?" he asked, digging into his ear to make sure nothing was blocking his hearing.

"What? You five are some of my favorite students; I have nothing to do this weekend including tonight, and I've always been fascinated with video games, having never played them before, so would you boys be okay if I joined you tonight?" she practically begged. The five looked at each other in confusion. Of all the weird things that could've happened to them on their way out the door, this one event didn't even crack the top 20.

"Well, do you have a gaming console?" Rumble questioned and crossed his arms over his Blue Angels shirt.

"More specifically, a PS3?" Spike rubbed his chin. Luna shook her head in a saddened reply.

"Where can I buy this, PS3 that you speak of?" Luna asked them.

"Walmart probably has a ton of them on sale since the PS4 launched awhile ago," Cougar replied. Luna's eyes lit up and she grabbed Cougar and Pip's hands.

"Then to Walmart we shall go boys!" the vice principal dragged the two out to her car while their three friends jogged to keep up.

* * *

**(At Walmart. 3rd person POV)**

"Alright, the electronics section, which of these is the console that I require to play with you five?" Luna asked as the six stood in front of the video game section of Walmart. There were sections for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, the Wii U, the PS3 and the PS4. Dozens upon dozens of games lined the shelves and controllers and gaming headsets lined the wall behind them. Button Mash was scouring video game guides, searching for a guide for the newest Assassin's Creed.

"Here, the PlayStation 3," Cougar lightly tapped the glass on the door housing about ten PS3 consoles that were on sale.

"And the game, is this one correct?" Luna pointed to a PS3 copy of Black Ops II.

"Yes ma'am, we'll just find someone to unlock the cabinet," Pipsqueak poked his head around to find an employee.

"So, are these the only two things I require to play with you boys?" Luna questioned as her eyes drifted over the PS3 box. Rumble turned around and picked up a black and blue box with a picture of a gaming headset marked _Turtle Beach PX22_ and handed it to his vice principal.

"You're going to need one of these to talk with us in the game Ms. Luna," he explained. Luna turned the box around to better understand what it was.

"I will be able to communicate with you five through this headset?" She asked, "interesting," she added.

"And the PS3 box comes with the HDMI cable, power cord and DualShock 3 controller you'll need," Cougar added. Luna lowered the headset box and gave Cougar a look that made what he said sound like he was explaining the theory of relativity.

"I'm not on the good side of technology Cougar," Luna said, "I barely know how my SamPhone 4 works," she explained. The group looked up when a Walmart associate approached them with keys in his hand.

"Sorry, one of the associates misplaced the keys," he apologized, "I overheard you wanted to get a PS3 correct?" He unlocked the glass door of the cabinet.

"Yes that is correct sir," Luna grabbed a PS3 box from the associate.

"Is there anything else I can get for you ma'am?" He questioned with a smile.

"Just a copy of Black Ops II sir, and that's all she'll need," Featherweight patted Luna's back to which she gave him a sly smile. The Walmart employee grabbed a PS3 copy of Black Ops II and handed the case to Luna whom placed it on top of her headset box and PS3 box.

"VP, do you need any of us to carry your stuff?" Rumble offered.

"No, I can handle myself Rumble," Luna pulled her wallet out of her purse.

"Comes to $335.64."

"Alright, who can help me set this up at my house?" Luna asked.

* * *

**(At Luna's House.)**

"Alright Ms. Luna," Pip dusted his hands off, "your HDMI cable is setup, your PS3 is plugged in, your PX22s are linked up with your system and your copy of Black Ops II is unwrapped," he declared.

"Oh thank you Pip," Luna ruffled his hair, "now what else must I do?" She asked. Pip turned on the PS3 and linked the controller with the system.

"You must create a PSN account complete with your email and a gamer tag," Pipsqueak explained. Luna then entered her email information and street address before coming to the game tag screen. "Now remember, once you create the name, you cannot change it Ms. Luna," Pip informed her.

"Hmm, how about this?" Luna entered _Ms_Luna_.

"No, too formal. Try something more unique," Pipsqueak sat down on her couch. Luna then attempted to enter _Vice_Principal_Luna_, but was brought to a screen telling her that her name had too many letters.

"Damn," Luna muttered and scratched her head, "this is more difficult than I thought," she set the controller on her lap.

"Here," Pip grabbed the black controller and entered _VP_Luna_. The screen flashed and asked if Luna was completely satisfied with the information she input to the PSN.

"Ooh, quite clever Pip," Luna clicked yes and was brought back to the main screen for the PS3.

"Okay, you're all set Ms. Luna, just pop the game in, let it download all the patches and then wait at the multiplayer screen for all of us to send you friend requests," Pip headed out the door to walk home which just so happened to be one block over.

"What is your gamer tag Pipsqueak!?" Luna called out.

"UK_Pirate_2010!" Pip replied and softly shut the door. Luna injected the disc into the disc drive and came across a screen asking her whether or not to download the latest software patch. She clicked yes and her jaw dropped at the message that said it would take at least 30 minutes to download all the new software.

"I guess I'll see what Chef Boyardee has on the menu tonight," Luna sat up from her couch and began to prepare herself some dinner complete with some Pepsi.

**(30 Minutes later)**

"Alright Pip, what's Luna's gamer tag?" Spike asked and set down his Monster Energy.

"I set it up for her personally," Pip replied as the five friends sat in a party together on the game, "her gamer tag is VP_Luna," the British boy replied while fixing his emblem of the UK flag. Spike, Rumble, Cougar and Featherweight all entered the XMB menu for their PS3s and each sent their Vice Principal friend requests.

"And now we wait," Cougar said into his microphone and adjusted his USAF emblem. Meanwhile, Luna rinsed out her bowl of Beefaroni and sat back down on her couch with a few cans of Pepsi. There was a message on the top right corner of her TV screen that read, "_You have 5 new Friend Requests."_

"Well, that certainly was fast," Luna smiled to herself and opened the message to accept the invitations. She scanned her TV screen as the five requests showed up from UK_Pirate_2010, Blue_Angels_A-4, Flash_Mob_Kid, Power_Ponies_FTW and Strike_Eagle_15.

"Hey guys, Ms. Luna's starting to accept our requests!" Rumble exclaimed. One after another, each of the five boys were alerted that VP_Luna was now Online and ready to play. "Okay, who's going to do the honors here?" the Blue Angels fan asked and sipped a Mountain Dew.

"Spike, you're the party host, how about you?" Featherweight asked. Spike clicked on the triangle button, scrolled down his friends list and sent an invite to Ms. Luna. Back at Luna's house, she was thrilled to get a message from Power_Ponies_FTW titled _Game Invite_. Clicking back to the main menu of her PS3, Luna accepted the game invite and was instantly whisked into a party with all five of her friends awaiting her arrival.

"Well hello there Ms. Luna," Pip greeted his favorite faculty member of the school.

"Good evening boys," Luna replied, "so before we get started, besides Pip, who is who?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm Strike_Eagle_15," Cougar said.

"Power_Ponies_FTW," Spike declared.

"Flash_Mob_Kid," Featherweight exclaimed.

"Blue_Angels_A-4," Rumble chimed in.

"Okay good, so do we start now?" Luna asked as she nervously gripped her black controller.

"Nope, go to create a class first Ms. Luna," Cougar explained, "I'm the group's Assault Rifler, Spike is the Sub Machine Gunner, Featherweight is our Light Machine Gunner, Pip is our Sniper and Rumble here is our Shotgunner," the Air Force fan said. Luna did as she was told and was having trouble picking a gun to use.

"Uh, it appears that all the gun classes have been taken by you boys," Luna piped up.

"Don't worry VP," Rumble assured her, "the pistols in this game are wicked over powered; just get the Five-Seven pistol, slap on Lightweight, Toughness and Dexterity for your perks and grenade and shock charge for your explosive and equipment." Again, Luna did as she was told and had a class setup, but with no primary weapon.

"What about a primary weapon?" She questioned.

"With how over powered the pistols in this game are, especially that one, you won't need one," Spike replied, "and you can pick up weapons from dead enemies or teammates," he added.

"Oh, okay then. I guess let's get on with this," Luna suggested. Spike clicked to find a match and the six soon found themselves in a match on Hardcore Search and Destroy on Nuketown 2025.

"Alright Luna, just do not go rushing out," Cougar warned, "in this game mode, you die, you don't respawn until the next round," he explained as the six were dropped into their spawn point on the map. Luna gulped as the counter reached zero and her teammates began to move around.

"It's okay Luna, just go hide next to the door in the living room," Rumble ordered. Luna shrieked a little when a grenade blew up a car outside as she sat down. Holding down L1, Luna pointed her pistol at the doorway should an enemy run inside.

"Okay, I think I saw one-," Rumble said before he was silenced and his named showed up on the kill feed.

"There he is!" Pip exclaimed and sniped the enemy that was hiding in the garage of the enemy house. Suddenly, there was a loud burst of gunfire and Cougar and Featherweight's names appeared on the killfeed, leaving only Spike, Luna and Pip left.

"Should I go and search around?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, we need to guard the bomb sites," Spike said as he aimed down the sights of his MP7. "WOAH!" He burst fired his gun and collected a double kill. "Okay, three on three," Spike said in an almost whisper-like state. Luna slowly crouched down and walked outside to sit next to the loading van in the cul-de-sac of Nuketown.

"Hold on," Pip said, "there's two leaving the red house!" he shouted and started to shoot his Ballista to keep the enemies at bay.

"Luna, just watch bomb A near the loading van!" Spike said while running out to kill the enemies that were being held down by Pip's sniper fire. Luna peered around the edge of the opening of the loading van and saw the two enemies that Spike was chasing. One enemy's name appeared on the kill feed as Spike attacked him. But then, Spike's name appeared on the kill feed as the other enemy knifed him.

"Spike!" Luna shouted as the other part of her group was killed.

"And then there were two," Pip said as he scanned the back of the enemy spawn.

"Pip, there's one planting near my bomb site!" Luna exclaimed and started to wildly fire her pistol at the bomb site. The enemy that was planting dropped the bomb, jumped up and started to fire his machine gun at Luna. She ducked down as the enemy sprayed his Type 25 at her. "Pip, help!" Luna begged.

"I'm on my way Ms. Luna!" Pip replied as he jumped from the window of the house in their spawn. While the enemy was distracted, Pip ran up and knifed the enemy in the back, choosing not to quick scope since he believed it was a cheap tactic. "Alright, all cle-" Pip declared until a gunshot went off and hit him in the head.

"NO!" Luna exclaimed and reloaded her pistol. "Pip? Cougar?" Luna whispered into her mic yet received no reply. Ever so slowly, she inched her left joystick forward, making her soldier on her TV inch forward as well. Her left index finger held down the L1 button for dear life, the Vice Principal aimed her Five-Seven pistol in front of her soldier as she creeped around the back of the loading van.

"You can do it Ms. Luna," Pip cheered her on from spectating her soldier. Suddenly, Luna heard the sound of boots scraping against the asphalt of the circular driveway. Freezing, she turned the volume up on her gaming headset to make sure it wasn't her own footsteps. An electronic _beep_ was heard from next to Luna. Curious, she peered around the corner only to find the enemy laying prone next to the bomb site with a brief case in hand.

"SHOOT HIM!" Rumble shouted at his TV set and into the ears of his friends. Panicking, Luna started to fire her gun as fast as her finger could pull the trigger. The bomb site turned orange and a voice came over her headset, "_Bomb Active."_ Standing up, the enemy ducked behind the now hot bomb site and started to fire off with Pip's sniper rifle.

"AH!" Luna shrieked and hit the prone button while still firing her gun. Luna heard a _powop_ sound and a white X appeared at the center of her screen before a _+50_ appeared in place of the white X. The enemy ceased firing and fell to the ground, dead. "I, I did it! I killed someone!" Luna cheered. She then remembered the bomb she was supposed to defuse and went into panic mode as she didn't know how to! Diving onto the bomb with only 9 precious seconds left, Luna held down the square button as the game told her to and her soldier defused the bomb.

_"Well done squad, regroup and go again,"_ the game said. A replay of Luna firing like crazy and killing the enemy was shown again before the game reset for Round 2.

"Alright Luna!" Spike applauded.

"Nice work VP," Rumble congratulated.

"Amazing Ms. Luna," Pip complimented.

"Got ourselves a regular Dirty Harry on our team," Cougar teased.

"Are you sure you've never played this before?" Featherweight asked slyly. Still catching her breath from the excitement, Luna gave out an, unsettling laugh.

"I could get used to this," she rubbed her hands together as Round 2 began. The group of six continued playing for hours and hours until around 1 in the morning. At this time, Luna had already leveled up to level 20 and had her Five-Seven Pistols leveled up to have two of them.

"Well, I'm about ready to crash," Spike yawned and stretched. "Can't be too groggy when you're escorting the prettiest girl in town," he said with a hint of swag in his voice. Suddenly, a different voice replied to the group of six that were in a lobby.

"Oh, you gonna be escorting your mom around her hooker park?" one of the gamers questioned.

"Yeah, she still hasn't paid me for last week, that skank owes me," another voice said.

"I beg your pardon!" Luna exclaimed.

"Luna, they're just trolls, ignore them," Cougar cautioned.

"No Cougar, these boys must know that Spike's mother is an accomplished English professor at Equestria University and is not a skank!"

"Oh hello," a third voice said lustily, "VP_Luna, you got a Snapchat?" he questioned.

"No, I do not even know what that is," she replied.

"Aw, well you should get one and send me some nice shots of your big and juicy tits," he joked.

"DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW YOU ARE SPEAKING TO A LADY LIKE THAT!?" Luna bellowed into her mic, temporarily scaring her students.

"Oh yeah, I love 'em feisty," another gamer said in a fake moan, "hey teach, I'm a naughty boy; I need a spanking," he joked, causing his party of friends to start guffawing and laughing.

"VP, just mute these rejects if you're still gonna play; I'm hitting the sack," Rumble yawned.

"I just can't believe how some kids today will talk to a lady like that. In my day if a boy talked to a woman that way, every man that heard it would smack him upside the head," Luna took a swig of her Pepsi, "but if you boys want to turn in for the night, I guess we'll play tomorrow?" She asked as Spike brought the party out of the lobby.

"Oh yeah, we're all free until around noon," Featherweight remarked. Every other member except Luna all responded with some form of the word yes.

"Well then, goodnight boys and thank you for including me in your game," Luna said as all of her friends got offline. Looking at her clock and seeing as how close it was to being half past one, the Vice Principal nearly clicked her PS3 off, but the urge to keep playing itched at the back of her head. "Oh, I guess one more round wouldn't hurt," she joined a lobby by herself and fixed her 5-7 class to have faster reloading.

* * *

**(9 A.M. 3rd Person POV)**

Spike, per the norm, booted up his PS3 and was surprised to find that Vice Principal Luna was already online. "Hmm, didn't take her as an early riser," Spike sipped a cup of hot cocoa. A smile was brought to his face as Cougar, Rumble, Featherweight and Pip all got online as well. An even bigger smile appeared across his face as his phone buzzed with a message from none other than Rarity.

_Rarity: I can't wait to go to the Fashion History Gallery at the museum with you Spikey-Wikey. Don't forget to pick me up around 12:30 ;)_

Spike's heart leapt at the thought of spending all day with his girlfriend. His thoughts were interrupted when Luna joined his party. "Good morning Spike!" Luna said with pure jubilation and excitement.

"Morning Ms. Luna, did you sleep well?" Pip asked when he and the other joined the party.

"Sleep? Oh that's a funny one Pip," Luna chuckled like she was on a sugar rush. "I've been up since well yesterday morning. I couldn't stop playing last night, save for trips to the restroom and a trip to 7-11," she exclaimed.

"You pulled an all-nighter on your first night?" Cougar asked.

"Thanks to my good friends Red Bull and Monster," Luna said as she cracked open another can of Monster Energy.

"And you're already level freakin' 55!?" Rumble exclaimed, "did you keep playing Search and Destroy?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, it was taking me forever to get past level 20 playing that game mode, so I switched to Kill Confirmed and started leveling up like crazy up to 55 a few minutes ago," Luna explained and sipped her energy drink. "That and I switched to using the KAP-40 and B23R pistols; they're much more effective than the 5-7 and the Tac-45."

"Okay then," Featherweight said, nervous about how his teacher was becoming obsessed with playing the game already.

"Oh by the way boys, what is prestige level 1? I was asked if I wanted to do that last night," Luna questioned.

"It's really not important," Rumble assured her, "you reach and complete level 55 and then you have the option to restart at level one of prestige one and unlock all the guns and perks again," he explained.

"That's stupid and a waste of time, now let's get this ball rolling!" Luna exclaimed as she downed another huge gulp of her Monster. The others gripped their DualShock 3 controllers tightly and awaited Spike to find a decent Search and Destroy lobby. Several hours later, it was 11:45 and the score was tied at 3 to 3, heading into overtime on Raid.

"Come on boys, pick up the slack a little," Luna said as she was 9 and 3 while the rest were around 4 and 5 and 3 and 6.

"Ms. Luna, it's just a game," Pip reminded her nervously. Ignoring him, Luna tossed her EMP grenade and hit a few enemy players near the kitchen of the huge mansion.

"Haha! I got another UAV boys, no mercy!" She shouted and clicked on her UAV to reveal where all six members of the enemy team were hiding. Luna jumped into the kitchen and brought out her dual wield KAP-40s and blasted away one of the enemies before diving into the cocaine room to reload and toss a grenade back into the kitchen.

"There's one hiding in the courtyard!" Cougar informed his teammates and launched one of his grenades from his grenade launcher at an enemy.

"On my way Coug, give me a second," Spike replied as he refreshed his clip of his MP7 after killing an enemy.

"HE'S GOT AN SVU!" Cougar exclaimed before being hit with the semi-auto sniper and dying. Spike went up to toss some C4 in the enemy's face but was stabbed from behind by another enemy. Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Luna killed the third enemy of the enemy team and was heading towards the courtyard where Spike and Cougar were just killed. Luckily, Pip, Rumble and Featherweight were still alive to give her cover.

"The sniper is in the laundry room," Pip remarked as he aimed his Ballista towards the laundry room.

"Well, where are the other th-" Featherweight asked before getting knifed in the throat in the garage. Luna waited near the door of the laundry room with her dual wield KAP-40s at the ready while Rumble quickly tossed a Semtex grenade into the room. The enemy sniper ran out only to be killed by Luna.

"Eat lead punk," Luna reloaded, "only two left."

"PIP, BEHIND YOU!" Rumble started to shoot off his Remington to lure the enemy away, but to no avail. Pip turned around and tried to knife the enemy, but was shot in the head. Unfortunately for Rumble, the second to last enemy was hiding behind the doorway below where Pip was sniping from and he also got shot, leaving Luna as the lone survivor of the team. Refreshing her ammo clips, Luna ran to the garage to scout for the enemy that killed Featherweight.

"Come on out you punk," Luna said to the game. The Vice Principal darted her soldier back and forth, scouring the garage area for one of two enemies left. Hearing footsteps, Luna crouched low behind one of the vehicles and waited for the enemy to either get within her iron sights or to leave. Off in the distance, the bomb site turned orange as the briefcase was coded and set to explode. "Drat," Luna muttered and stood up from her hiding place. Instead of going out of the garage and to the left, Luna ran through the middle of the map through the rock garden and crouched near the wall closest to the bomb site. The UAV then went away, leaving Luna with no verification of where the enemies were.

The sound of a pin coming out of a grenade caught the attention of the school administrator. A concussion grenade landed near her feet and blinded and deafened her. "NO!" Luna shouted as the enemy killed her, ending the game and forcing her team to lose 4-3.

"Well, you tried Ms. Luna," Pip assured her as the twelve players were brought back to the lobby.

"What a coward, having to slow down and disorient his enemy to kill them," Luna muttered bitterly.

"Hey, it was great playing Ms. Luna, but we've all got stuff to do," Cougar apologized.

"Yeah, I've gotta take a quick shower and pick Rarity up for our lunch date," Spike smiled and signed offline, disbanding the party. Luna watched as all five of her friends signed off PSN. She stretched her back, realizing that she had been up for over 24 hours.

"Perhaps a shower and a quick nap," she turned off her PS3. Several hours later, Cougar and Applejack joined up with Pipsqueak and Sweetie Belle at the _Hard Rock Cafe _while Spike and Rarity were enjoying the Fashion History Gallery at the Museum and Rumble was watching Top Gun with Scootaloo on his 70 inch flat screen TV; Featherweight was helping Applebloom with sorting out the rotten apples from bruised apples on AJ's farm.

"So, hope it's fine to have two older friends with you guys," Cougar peered over his menu.

"Eh, the more the merrier Cougar," Sweetie raised her glass of ice tea.

"I hear that!" AJ exclaimed and clinked her glass of Root Beer against Sweetie's glass.

"This is fairly enjoyable Cougar, I'm glad I took you up on your offer," Pip smiled.

"So, you guys really helped Ms. _Luna_ of all people to start playing Call of Duty?" Sweetie Belle asked for the third time.

"Hey, we're still shocked at how much she likes it," Cougar replied.

"I think the true shock was her pulling an all-nighter on her first night," Pip added, "didn't she sound a bit, jazzed up as you Americans say?" he asked Cougar.

"You mean hyper like Pinkie Pie?" Sweetie Belle suggested as she kept looking up from her menu to her boyfriend.

"In a way, but not insanely hyper," Pip responded. Suddenly, both Pip and Cougar's phones buzzed and beeped as they received text messages. Their messages said the exact same thing, but the weird and creepy part was they were from Luna.

_From Luna: Hey boys, I just, how you say, "Owned" a group of enemies by shooting a claymore that blew up a van. Hope to see you back online soon!_

"Uh, when did we give Luna our phone numbers?" Cougar asked as he set his phone on the table.

"We uh, we didn't," Pip replied. "She must've gotten them from our permanent records or something," he set his iSung 5 on the table.

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," Applejack agreed with the boys. Meanwhile, Spike had received the same message while touring the museum with Rarity. His eyes widened at the thought of how Luna was able to acquire his cell phone number.

"Who texted you Spikey-Wikey?" Rarity sweetly asked, tearing her gaze away from Marilyn Monroe's classic white dress, "does your mother want you to pick up some groceries on the way home?"

"N-no, Vice Principal Luna just texted me on how she blew up a few enemies by shooting a claymore and blowing up a van," he nervously responded and clicked the button to go back to the lock screen on his SamPhone 4.

"Oh yes, that silly little game of- wait a minute, when did you give our Vice Principal your cell phone number?" Rarity questioned in not a jealous or suspicious tone, but one of curiosity and concern.

"Never, that's the problem," Spike set his phone back into his pocket. Rarity pursed her lips, trying to get a grip on this situation.

"Well, as long as you're just playing that silly game of yours, I don't see a problem with it," Rarity patted her Spikey-Wikey's head.

"She did just want something to do on Friday nights and weekends," Spike scratched his chin. "Well whatever, today is all about us," he wrapped his arm around Rarity's waist and led her to a replica of Fonzie's Brown Leather jacket from Happy Days. Elsewhere, Rumble and Featherweight both went through the same thing as their three friends, prompting Rumble to send a text out to his four friends.

* * *

**(Two Weeks Later. 3rd Person POV)**

Things had turned, weird for Cougar, Spike, Rumble, Pip and Featherweight. At first, Luna just wanted to play on Friday nights and the weekends, which seemed fine and normal, but she had taken an obsessive turn. After finding out she had gotten their cell phone numbers from their school records and they had added her to their contacts list, the texts never stopped. The boys were currently eating lunch all together with their girlfriends when Luna appeared wearing a Black Ops II T-Shirt. "Boys! You'll never believe it!" She said excitedly, "I got a second HDMI cable and I hooked my PS3 up to the computer in my office; I can play during school now!" she rubbed her hands together.

"Uh, that's great Luna," Cougar set his Pepsi can down.

"So, I was thinking, let's start playing during after school hours boys, there's enough time before you must sleep," Luna ignored the fact that Cougar was uninterested.

"But, we have homework Ms. Luna," Pipsqueak stopped eating his nachos.

"And track season is right around the corner!" Rumble pointed out. Luna then reached into her pocket and produced a stack of five sheets.

"Here, these are homework excuses I have given to all of your teachers," Luna grinned, "I always thought homework was a waste of time for students anyways," she rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me Vice Principal," Rarity set down her lunch of Sushi and saltine crackers, "but we do like to spend time with our boyfriends; they can't keep ditching us for a silly little video game!" She exclaimed. Applejack, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and the boys all nodded in agreement.

"Well then, get PS3s yourselves and join us! Though you'd have to play Ground War," Luna rubbed her chin.

"Sorry VP," Rumble sat up, "but they're right."

"Look, we've had, fun, these past two weeks," Spike looked away from the Vice Principal.

"But we do need to spend a little more quality time with our girls, they were with us before the game came out," Pip added.

"However, we'll still take those get out of homework passes," Featherweight reached for one. Luna yanked them away and crumpled them into her pocket.

"Nope, offer's gone boys; maybe you should spend a little more time with your girlfriends," Luna leaned onto the table and glared at the five girls.

"Dang, well we'll still see around the school and maybe play a little on days off of school, or we can play one last time tonight before taking a break," Cougar snapped his fingers. _'Yes, perhaps on days off of school. Or as soon as tonight,'_ Luna thought as she strolled away from the lunch room. As the bell rang several hours later to signify school letting out, Rarity, AJ, AB, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were hit with unfortunate news.

"DETENTION!?" They all shouted.

"Mmm yes," Luna hummed, "every day of every week until the end of the school year," she added.

"Fer what!?" Applejack demanded.

"Oh your list of offenses is quite severe," Luna slid a piece of paper over to the girls.

"Indecent exposure!?" Rarity exclaimed, "I've never shown a centimeter of inappropriate skin!"

"Swearin' in class?" Applejack asked, "the worst thing Ah've ever said was dang!"

"Destruction of school property?!" Scootaloo looked up at Luna, "but Coach Spitfire told me that basketball was on its last leg anyway and she didn't blame me!"

"Singing inappropriate songs in the locker room?" Sweetie Belle demanded, "I happen to sing in the shower, and Pour Some Sugar on Me isn't that inappropriate!"

"Bringin' snacks ta class?" Applebloom balled up the piece of paper and chucked it into the garbage pail, "Miss Cheerliee loves it when Ah bring Big Mac's apples fer her ta snack on!"

"It doesn't matter what you think you did girls, you have detention; don't make it any worse," Luna smirked, "Mr. Discord shall be your detention teacher. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a game I'm _dying_ to play," she winked at the girls.

"You're tearing me away from my Spikey-Wikey for a stupid game?!" Rarity shouted as the door closed.

"We've gotta let the boys know that she's gone insane!" Sweetie Belle pulled her phone out.

**(Meanwhile)**

"Oh hello boys, hope you like the new player card," Luna chuckled when she joined the party.

"Uhhhhhhhh," Pipsqueak said when he clicked on Luna's profile to see her new player card.

"Well, there's something you don't see a teacher say," Featherweight blushed.

"LUNA!" Cougar said in shock.

"It's a double entendre, I'll give you that," Spike said nervously.

"Do you know how many horny pervs are going to target you VP?!" Rumble exclaimed. Luna's player card had a black background with a nice white crescent moon in the upper left hand corner. Below that however, was a phrase that said: _Eat my moon pie._

"What? It's not like you boys haven't had health class before, you know what they look like," Luna shrugged it off. Rumble did a spit take and spat out his Amp Energy drink while Cougar groaned.

"Yes, just because we've had health class means that emblem is totally appropriate," Pipsqueak muttered.

"Thank you God that Rarity isn't here," Spike whispered. The moment was interrupted when Luna gave out the loudest burp any of the boys had ever heard.

"**_BUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPP!_** Ah, let's get it on!" Luna crushed her Pepsi can, "party's over, time to go balls to the walls boys!" She started up a match. Immediately, several enemy gamers took advantage of Luna's player card.

"Oh hey VP_Luna, if I eat your moon pie, will you play with my joystick?"

"I can't play with something that small bitch," Luna smirked.

"_MS. LUNA! _This isn't like you!" Pip shouted. Suddenly, Pip's phone buzzed with a text from Sweetie Belle. His eyes bulged out of his head as he read the message. He quickly copied the message and forwarded it to Cougar, Rumble, Featherweight and Spike.

"My God," Cougar set his phone down as the match began.

"This madness must end," Featherweight leapt off the side of the map Turbine.

"Hey, what is he doing!?" Luna demanded.

"Doing what she should've done last week," Spike replied as he shut off his PS3 followed by Featherweight, Cougar and Rumble.

"PIP! No, no don't you leave too, please!" Luna begged. Pip said nothing as he shut off his console, leaving Luna alone online.

The five concerned boys all met up at the school to rescue their girlfriends, but Mr. Discord wouldn't have any of it. "Sorry boys, but rules state that the accused cannot leave until 5:00 PM," Mr. Discord shooed them away from the detention room.

"But Mr. Discord!" Cougar fought.

"No buts young man!" the teacher with the lazy eye stared him down. "5:00 let out and no visitors, those are the rules Principal Celestia created, and those shall stay in place," he shoved them out of the school.

"I'll be back for you m'lady!" Spike called to Rarity as Mr. Discord shut the door. The five found themselves in the local Game Galaxy, trying to clear their heads on what to do.

"Okay, so our Vice Principal has gone bat shit crazy," Featherweight started off.

"And she's keeping our girlfriends prisoners until dinner time," Spike continued and leafed through a gaming magazine.

"And she won't leave us alone unless we play with her," Cougar blocked Luna's number on his phone.

"It's simple, you've got to humiliate her until she doesn't have the courage to play as much as she has been," a new voice replied.

"Button Mash?" The five boys questioned as their fellow gamer was playing on his JoyBoy.

"How do you know how to deal with this?" Pip questioned.

"Why do you think I only play handheld games or just single-player RPGs?" Button looked up from his JoyBoy. "I used to be addicted to online gaming back when I was a Freshman. My grades fell to hell and my only friends were Pip and Featherweight. It got so bad that I skipped school one day and my mom was furious. So, she whipped up her own PSN account and whipped my ass on Call of Duty. I was so embarrassed that I quit multiplayer online and stuck to single player RPGs," Button Mash explained.

"Well we can't embarrass her if we beat her, we're too close of friends," Rumble rubbed his chin.

"There is someone here who might be able to help you," Button Mash paused his game, "but it may shock you who it is," Button Mash warned. He gestured with his left hand as a figure walked downstairs from the second floor of the gaming store.

"No, freaking, way," Rumble's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too," Button Mash went back to jumping onto Koopas.

"Hello Ms. Luna, sorry about ditching you earlier," Pip apologized when all five got online and joined Luna's party.

"We were just so shocked at how different you'd become while playing that we needed a moment to get used to it?" Cougar poorly lied. Rumble, Spike and Featherweight remained silent, not having anything to say to their Vice Principal as they awaited her response and they waited for their surprise to kick in.

"That's fine Pip," Luna took a drink of her soda, "I guess I got a little too rowdy there, but I promise to cool it down from now on," Luna swore. Rumble took out his cell phone and quickly punched in a text to Cougar.

_From Rumble: Should we tell her we know what she did to our girlfriends?_

Cougar replied with '_Not yet. Wait for you-know-who to arrive.'_ Finally, the person whom would help the five boys appeared online and sent a message confirming they were ready to help. Luna then started a match up and went to a Search and Destroy game on Standoff. Thinking quickly, Featherweight sent an invite to the mystery person as there were only 11 people out of a possible 12 in the lobby. "Nice emblem," Luna complimented as the twelfth person joined the lobby.

"Which one VP?" Rumble questioned.

"Misstress_Cake," Luna replied, "it's a good looking piece of cake," she complimented again. "What, to afraid to talk?" Luna teased as the player didn't respond. The match soon started up and the five prayed this would work and end the madness that they admitted they'd created. Soon, the six members of the T800 clan started to run to their respective spots on Standoff. Cougar hid behind the statue in the middle of the map, Pip got into his sniper window, Spike hid in the gas station while Rumble and Featherweight hid the warehouse and Luna ran to the meat shop.

"WHAT THE-" The five heard Luna exclaim as Misstress_Cake killed her rather quickly. Misstress_Cake then committed suicide and waited for everyone else in the match to die.

"You aim-hotting cheater!" Luna accused when her team one Round 1.

"Luna, what's the matter?" Spike asked in a fake tone of concern.

"That Mistress_Cake is using aim-bot, I know it!" Luna replied angrily.

"It's just a game Ms. Luna," Pip politely reminded her.

"I'll get her, mark my words boys, this bitch is going down," Luna gripped her controller so hard it almost cracked. Six rounds later, Luna's team was victories 4 to 3, but Luna for the first time went 0-7. She never killed a single enemy player, but Misstress_Cake had killed her all seven times she had died.

"So VP, how do you feel?" Rumble asked as Luna brought her friends back to the main party.

"I'm so humiliated right now, I can't believe we allowed ourselves to play with a cheater like that," she grumbled and set her controller on the ground.

"Well, maybe you needed a wakeup call back to reality Lulu," a voice replied softly. Looking up, Luna saw Misstress_Cake had joined the party, and the voice was all too familiar.

"Tia! You're the cheater?!" Luna exclaimed. There was a knock on the door of Luna's house as Celestia left the party. She answered the door to find a fairly disappointed big sister standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"You know, when Cougar, Spike and Pip told me about your gaming addiction, I didn't want to believe it," Celestia entered Luna's house. She walked into the living room where the boys could hear their conversation through Luna's PX22s. "I can't believe that this is where you've been spending all of your free time, no wonder your office has piles of disciplinary papers stacked everywhere! And to think you imprisoned five girls because they wanted to tear their boyfriends away, for shame," Celestia scolded her baby sister. Luna wanted more than anything to lash back at Celestia and tell her to mind her business. Yet, the feeling of guilt for pretty much imprisoning the five girls for no reason and going insane over a video game ate away at her.

"I-I just didn't want to spend my weekends alone anymore sister!" Luna exclaimed, "I heard them talking about how much fun they have playing together on the weekends; I just wanted to spend time with friends on the weekends," Luna explained with saddened eyes.

"But what about your fellow teachers? I'm sure Ms. Cheerilee wouldn't mind going 'clubbing' with you," Celestia put an arm around Luna.

"I tried, but ever since she started dating Big Macintosh, she's busy every weekend," she replied.

_"Try seeing your teacher at your girlfriend's house, that's freaking weird!" _Featherweight said.

"Silence!" Luna shouted into her microphone.

"Okay, how about Coach Spitfire or Coach Iron Will? I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting together for a drink or two on Fridays," Celestia suggested.

"Spitfire is dating Braeburn and Iron Will sort of scares me," Luna admitted.

_"Glad I'm not the only one that's afraid of that steroid induced raging bull!"_ Spike sighed in relief.

"I said silence students!" Luna screeched into the microphone again. "And ever since you've started seeing Discord, you haven't been able to spend at least one day a week with me," she sat down on the couch.

"Oh, I think I see the problem Lulu," Celestia sat down next to her sister.

_"OOOOOOHHHH!" _Rumble gagged.

_"TURN THE MIC OFF, WE'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" _Cougar shouted.

_"That's nasty, I'll never be able to get that image out of my head,"_ Pipsqueak groaned. Luna grabbed her controller and shut off her PS3, killing the conversation between her and the students.

"Anyways," Celestia ignored the awkwardness of the conversation via PlayStation, "maybe you don't need anymore friends, perhaps you just a special someone in your life?" she offered. "Hobbies are great for spare time, but they can't love you like another person or a pet."

"I know, but who is the one out there for me?"

"Well, we do have that new track coach coming in from Mannesota High School to replace the old track coach, maybe you could make a good first impression on him; he's single from what I've read," Celestia smiled.

"What's his name?" Luna questioned.

"Checkered Flag I think."

* * *

**(One Month Later)**

Ever since Celestia brought Luna back to reality, things for the sisters and five of their favorite students were looking up for everyone. Thankfully after explaining the situation, Rarity, AJ, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo decided not to tell their parents what happened with their unfair detention. Luna didn't get rid of her PS3, instead she worked out a gaming schedule for when the boys would be available to play. She also was able to start a Blu-ray collection thanks to the gaming console. And last but not least, Celestia had introduced her baby sister to the new track coach for the school: Checkered Flag. Someone may as well have played _Take My Breath Away_ when the two faculty members first met; they couldn't stop smiling awkwardly and looking away from each other. It turned out that Checkered loved being up at night just as much as Luna did. He even enjoyed horror stories by Stephen King and horror movies like _Halloween _and _A Nightmare on Elm Street._

Luna set her phone to silent as Checkered brought in a huge bowl of popcorn and a six pack of Pepsi Max to the living room and sat down next to her. Stretching his body out, Luna laid down into his chest and grabbed the bowl of popcorn and began to munch on the salty snack. "Too buttery?" Checkered Flag asked as he cracked open a soda.

"It's perfect Checkered, everything is perfect," Luna replied and turned the TV onto the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opening Daytona 250. Checkered Flag had gotten her hooked after showing her old tapes of races from the previous two seasons. Luna's phone lit up with a KIK message from Pip.

_From Pip: Sorry I can't make it. My dear Sweetie Belle has come down with the flu; a true gentleman takes care of his sick girlfriend._

"That kid is a regular Casanova," Checkered sipped his soda. Soon enough, the rest of the gang responded that none would be able to make it to game, including Luna.

_From Luna: I cannot make it either boys; it's date night ;)_

**End Luna Ops**

* * *

_And that's how Luna became obsessed with Online gaming and overcame it. I hope you all enjoyed the first story in my Vault Collection. I have plenty more ideas left. I don't know how often I'll update this collection. Pretty much whenever I get an idea._

_Also, the couples you've seen in this story I support. SpitBurn (Spitfire &amp; Braeburn), Dislestia (Discord &amp; Celestia), Scootumble (Scootaloo &amp; Rumble), Sparity (Spike &amp; Rarity), Cheerimac (Cheerilee &amp; Big Mac) PipBelle (Pip &amp; Sweetie Belle), AppleWeight (Applebloom &amp; Featherweight), CouJack (My OC Cougar and AJ), and finally, LunaredFlag (Luna and my OC Checkered Flag). _


	2. Lady Strange

**Vault: MLP One-Shot Collection:**

**Lady Strange**

_This is the Prequel to Rainbow Rocks: Long Live Rock 'N Roll. I've had this idea floating around for some time, but since WolfDragon commented on Long Live Rock 'N Roll that I should do a story on how Vinyl and Casey met and fell in love, the idea hasn't left me alone. And in case anyone here is curious, Lady Strange is the title of a Def Leppard song (hey, I can't help that they're so kick-ass!) from their 1981 Album, High 'N Dry. The song is freakin' awesome, so I say find a way to listen to it and listen to it!_

_Also, the official ship name for Casey and Vinyl is: Wub 'N Roll._

_This takes place about a day or two after the events of the FIRST Equestria Girls_

* * *

**(Canterlot City. 3rd Person POV)**

"Ah, it's good to be back in America," a British accented voice exclaimed. An average sized male British teenager grunted as he thumb-tacked a Union Jack flag above a bed in his new room. "A little taste of home never hurt," he admired his favorite decoration of his man cave. Running a hand through his thick black mullet, the Brit sighed and sat down on his bed, deciding to take a break after the pain in the arse of moving from London, England back to Canterlot City, America. The pale green eyed 18 year old cracked his knuckles, laid down on his bed and pushed play on a tiny remote control. Bon Jovi's _Livin' on a Prayer_ soon blasted over his MP3 sound system set up on his dresser near the window. In the corner of his room, sat a Fender Stratocaster six-string guitar painted dark blue with red flames on the body. Casey had been born with a keen ear for music, Rock 'N Roll to be exact. He received his first guitar when he was eight years old and played it as often as he could.

"Casey," a woman's soft voice spoke out as she knocked on the door to his room, "are you well adjusted yet?" she asked as she pushed the door open to see her son relaxing on his new bed. The teen pushed pause on his MP3 player, threw on a Union Jack tank top and stood up to greet his mother. "You know we still have to get you enrolled at the local high school tomorrow," she reminded her son.

"Right Mum," Casey flashed a grin. Casey had in fact been born in London, England eighteen years ago but his father's company had decided to relocate them overseas to Canterlot City, California when Casey was only six years old and just getting ready to start Kindergarten. The family had lived in the city until Casey completed sixth grade before his father's company brought them back to London.

"I know you're more excited to see your old friend Fluttershy," Amanda Knight, Casey's mother, smiled at her son. Fluttershy was Casey's only friend when he moved to California and attended the Canterlot Private Elementary School rather than the public Elementary School. Casey had been shy as a wee lad and barely talked to any other kids in school, until one day he was paired up with another student in Kindergarten to work on an art project. The girl was shy as well, but she was able to at least tell Casey her name: Fluttershy. At first, the two did their own thing on the project without talking to one another, resulting in them not being on the same page. Casey's mother got the idea to invite the timid girl over to their house for dinner to help break the ice between the two so they could complete the project. The idea was a success as Fluttershy became intrigued with Casey's mother and father's stories about living in England. Fluttershy and Casey then talked more often to each other even after they completed their art project and became the best of friends at the rather snooty private school.

Throughout the rest of Elementary School, Casey and Fluttershy became nearly inseparable, even with Fluttershy volunteering at the animal shelter to brighten the day of injured or unwanted pets. Wherever one went, the other followed suit, save for trips to the bathroom. Casey also became sort of her big brother and helped protect her from bullies at the school and with whatever injuries she had received. The British boy also became Fluttershy's shoulder to cry on when her first pet, a dog named Slinky, passed away when the two were in the fourth grade. The poor girl couldn't even talk to her parents, but she cried her heart out to her best friend who never left her side and never let go of her heart. And it was Casey whom bought her a white rabbit he named Angel from the local pet store. They knew they would only stay friends and become nothing more, yet they were completely fine with that, despite both of their parents kept teasing them about the idea.

Then, the day came near the end of sixth grade when Casey's father, Michael Knight, dropped the bombshell news that they would be moving back to London. This resulted in Casey temporarily running away to be alone with his thoughts on the matter. Hiding away in an alleyway with nothing more than a portable CD player and his headphones turned all the way up, Casey drowned himself down in his favorite music. Small tears were dripping from the boy's eyes when a gentle hand laced itself on his shoulder and squeezed itself gently. Fluttershy had heard the news as well from Casey's parents and set off to find him on her own. The boy didn't want to leave his best friend and cried his eyes out onto her shoulder, the same way she had done nearly two years prior with him. With only two weeks left in the school year and only three weeks before the move, Casey and Fluttershy spent ever hour of every day after school together, enjoying as much time as they could before they would be separated by what seemed like a million lightyears. Before he left, the best friends exchanged pictures of each other and their mailing addresses so they could stay in touch through letters; Casey never threw away a single letter his friend sent him. Instead, he set them in a handcrafted box that he made himself with her picture glued to the lid.

"Of course I am Mum," Casey replied and slipped his phone into his pocket, "haven't seen her in almost ten years; I can't wait one more day to see her," he pecked his mother's cheek and swiftly left the house to go see his best friend.

* * *

**(With Casey)**

Knowing Fluttershy, Casey had a gut feeling she would be at either the animal shelter or at the pet store. Putting on his headphones and turning on some Led Zeppelin, Casey strutted along the streets of Canterlot, trying to see how much had changed in seven years. Everywhere he looked, he saw various kids his age hanging out and some just walking down the street like him. A trio of girls about 16 or 17 nearly ran him over as they roller bladed and skateboarded by him on the sidewalk.

"Sorry Mister!" A yellow girl with red hair and a pink bow called out.

"Come on Applebloom," an orange girl with purple hair rolled her eyes, "are you trying to get someone killed?" she asked. Chuckling, Casey shrugged it off as teenagers having harmless fun and continued his way through town. The Brit breathed deeply through his nose, taking in the fresh air the city had to offer him as a gentle breeze wafted by. He stopped in his tracks as he approached the high school and gave it a look over. The front door area was covered with scaffolding, construction workers, building materials, power tools and various carpentry vehicles.

"Bloody hell," he took off his headphones, "what the hell happened here? Some drunk take a wrong turn?" He scratched his head. Stepping out of the way of a few more workers, Casey kept his gaze glued to the front of the building while walking off to try and get to the animal shelter. He approached a stoplight and pressed the button on the light pole when he realized he had forgotten where the animal shelter was! "Oh crap, was it on 3rd street or 4th street?" He placed his hand on his head and looked around, trying to get his memory to click. Someone tapped his shoulder, causing the Brit to turn around and see an orange girl with golden hair, a cowboy hat, boots, a button up shirt and a jean skirt.

"Yer turn ta go partner," she said kindly in a southern accent.

"Oh, sorry mate, after you," Casey allowed the girl to walk first.

"Thank ya kindly," the two walked through the crosswalk together. "So, Ah've never seen ya round these parts, ya new?" She questioned once the two reached the other side of the street.

"Yes and no," Casey replied, still cocking his head from side to side. "I moved here from London when I was six and then moved back to London after sixth grade and then I moved back here a few days ago," he explained.

"Well then, welcome back to our town," the girl stuck out her hand, "the name is Applejack," she smiled.

"Casey, Casey Knight," the Brit replied with a handshake. Applejack gasped and gripped his hand tighter.

"Yer Fluttershy's friend?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, how do you know who Fluttershy is?" Casey questioned.

"We've been best friends since 8th grade," Applejack explained, "she talks about ya a lot and shows us yer letters ta prove ya still talk ta one another."

"I won't stop talking to Fluttershy until the Apocalypse," Casey said, "but anyways, do you know where she is? I really want to see her before I enroll at the High School," Casey politely asked.

"Actually, she just texted me that she was goin' to be workin' at the Animal Shelter fer another twenty minutes, want me ta take ya?" Applejack offered.

"I would very much appreciate that Mate," Casey replied. "By the way, nice accent," he grinned.

"Back at ya," Applejack chuckled. Weaving through a small crowd, the two passed Sugar Cube Corner and a music shop which piqued Casey's interest.

"Hey, that wasn't there when I left," Casey pointed out.

"That music shop belongs ta Vinyl Scratch's family, but she runs it herself," Applejack explained.

"Is it any good?" Casey asked.

"Yep actually, Vinyl knows her instruments 'n only sells the best quality out there."

"Hmm, maybe I'll check it out," he replied.

"Fluttershy did mention ya played the guitar," Applejack pondered, "did she tell ya she's in a band with me 'n our friends?"

"She tells me just about everything," Casey explained, "you're the bass player right?"

"Eeyup, Ah like that deep, pulsatin' sensation runnin' through mah fingers when Ah play," she sighed.

"Really? I appreciate bass players. Rick Savage is my favorite," Casey replied. The farmer gave Casey a questionable look, revealing she had little to no clue who he was talking about. "Okay, I do also like Paul McCartney," Casey hoped she would know who he was talking about now. Applejack shrugged her shoulders and kept walking forward. "Michael Anthony?" He was grasping at straws now.

"Nnope, haven't heard 'o him either," Applejack admitted. This struck Casey as quite odd. She didn't have to know every living detail about bass players, but she should at least respect them enough to know who they are and what bands they played for.

"Flea?" Casey had one shot left.

"Eeyup, Ah like Flea, he's crazy on that there bass 'o his," Applejack smiled. Before Casey could say anything else, the orange girl stuck out her arm and stopped him from furthering his walk. "Here we are, the Canterlot Animal Shelter," Applejack announced.

"Huh, I remember it being on third street or fourth street," Casey scratched his head as they had arrived on second street.

"It used ta be 'til 'bout three years ago when they got enough fundraisin' money ta get a newer and bigger facility," Applejack explained as Casey held the door open for her and the two entered the building. "She must be in the back," Applejack said as she and the Brit scanned the front area over with no sign of Fluttershy. "'Scuse me Miss," Applejack struck up a conversation with the girl who was busy typing away at the computer, "is Fluttershy in the back?"

"Oh good to see you again Applejack, yes, she's cleaning out the dog kennels and playing fetch with the dogs," the girl explained and allowed the two access to the back area. After going through a narrow hallway, the duo reached another door and opened it to reveal Fluttershy wearing her green skirt and boots and a white T-Shirt with her back to Applejack and Casey while she played with one of the dogs, a huge German Shepherd.

"Aww, you're not a big meanie, you're just a big, cuddly sweetie aren't you?" Fluttershy cooed as she scratched the dog's belly, causing the dog to whine in euphoria and kick its leg. Getting a rather fiendish idea, Casey gave AJ the '_keep quiet'_ sign and slowly tip-toed his way over, not that he needed to since the dogs had been barking even before he arrived. "Okay Arnie, better get some water," Fluttershy stood up from her knees only to find a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. "EEP!" She squealed in shock and turned around to see who had her in a grip.

"Last I checked, my name was Casey, not _EEP!"_ Casey grinned.

"CASEY! OH MY GOSH IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!" Fluttershy shouted at the top of her lungs and instantly returned the hug. Nuzzling the Brit's chest affectionately, Fluttershy stepped away and just relished the fact her best friend ever was back in town.

"I missed you Fluttershy, even though we wrote back at least twice a month," Casey said as memories from the past came rushing up.

"But I thought you said in your last letter that you wouldn't be here until next week?" Fluttershy asked, still trying to contain her excitement.

"Well, we _were_, but Dad's company found us an earlier flight and we packed up quicker than we thought, so we took advantage of it. I wanted to write you and tell you, but the letter would've arrived later than us, so I decided a surprise would be good enough," Casey explained.

"Ah see you two have a lot 'o catching up ta do," Applejack started to leave before Fluttershy stopped her.

"No, I was just about to wrap up here anyways, how about a trip to Sugar Cube Corner?" The timid girl suggested, "Rainbow told me that her and Rarity were going to meet up with Pinkie there shortly, plus I want all my new friends to meet my best friend," she hugged Casey once again.

"Actually, I'd love to Fluttershy, I've always wanted to see how well you did with making friends after I left," Casey replied.

* * *

**(At Sugar Cube Corner)**

"So Casey, did ya play in a rock band with yer guitar over in England?" Applejack asked as she sipped on a milkshake made by Pinkie Pie while the four waited for Rainbow Dash and Rarity to show up.

"Actually, I _did_ shop around looking for a band to play with, but there was a limited number of options, and the ones I did tryout for, were either run by complete idiots who had no clue what they were doing or people who didn't care and just wanted to only rehearse like once or twice a week. Eventually, I gave up looking for a band that needed a guitar player, so I just kept working on guitar skills on my own time," Casey replied. A pink arm appeared with a peanut butter milkshake and set it down in front of Casey.

"It's really superly-awesome to meet Fluttershy's bestest British friend!" Pinkie Pie squealed.

"It's nice to meet you too Pinkie Pie," Casey cooly sipped his drink.

"Fluttershy always had fun stories about how close you two were when you were both little kiddies," Pinkie gushed, "tell me Casey," she sat down next to him, squeezing the Brit in between herself and Fluttershy, "did you ever have tea with the Queen, or at least crumpets?" She bit her lip in anticipation. "And did you ever get to see those guards in the fuzzy hats? Or did you get to wear one of those fuzzy hats?" she gasped.

"Pinkie, those are just stereotypes," Fluttershy meekly replied and petted Angel.

"Yeah, and besides, I much prefer Pepsi Light and Oreos over tea and crumpets any day," Casey replied, "that and I never personally met the Queen in my life, though I do recall her motorcade driving by when I was fifteen," Casey scooped some whipped cream out of his milkshake glass.

"What the hay is Pepsi Light?" Applejack curiously asked.

"Pepsi Light is the British version of Diet Pepsi," Casey cleared his throat before licking his lips of shake, "except I've seen both variations in the same cooler," he added.

"Is it weird seeing cars driving on the wrong side of the road?" A voice asked as the bell above the front door jingled.

"Rainbow Dash and Rarity!" Pinkie waved like a manic, leading the two teenage girls over to the table.

"Afternoon ladies, I'm-" Casey stuck out his hand to say hello, but Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Yeah, you're Fluttershy's friend Casey, I recognize you from letters and your FaceSpace profile," the cyan athlete sat down across from Fluttershy, Casey and Pinkie, sitting next to Applejack. Rarity took the last vacant seat in the booth right next to Rainbow Dash.

"Well, we finally get to meet Fluttershy's British friend," Rarity smiled, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Knight, though I feel I should tell you mullets are so 1980s," she felt around his black hair.

"It's good to meet you too, uh Scarcity?" Casey asked and politely swatted her hand away.

"Rarity darling," she corrected.

"Yeah, Rarity. I feel I should tell you I love the 1980s, especially the hair, movies and music. Oh and you should drop that fake accent," he nonchalantly sipped the rest of his milkshake down.

"What? My accent is as real as yours," Rarity defended.

"Sure, and Godzilla is my father," he replied.

"Anyways, you never answered my question Patrick Stewart," Rainbow got Casey's attention, "is it weird seeing cars on our sides of the roads?" she asked.

"Meh, it doesn't matter to me, though your drivers handle disputes much different than in England," he said, "here your drivers flip each other off, in England, the drivers stop in the road and honk their horns a few times before driving off," he explained.

"Is there anything you miss about England?" Pinkie Pie asked, "like the double-decker buses or Big Ben?"

"The one thing I will miss is the cheaper prices, that's for sure," Casey winked, causing Fluttershy and Rarity to giggle. "Oh by the way, I'm enrolling at the High School tomorrow for our Senior Year, uh what the hell happened to the front of the school?" He asked. Strangely, all five girls froze and looked away from the Brit, as if they had something dark to hide. Fluttershy kept her head down to look at Angel, Pinkie Pie sipped her milkshake out of the corner of her mouth and looked over at another table, Applejack looked out the window, Rarity kept playing with her hair and Rainbow Dash looked down at her phone. "Well, don't everyone explain it at once," Casey said.

"Someone's truck lost its brakes in the middle of the night and crashed into the front of the building at about 60 miles per hour," Rainbow piped up.

"Oh, I assumed it was a drunk, is the Bloke okay?" Casey replied.

"Yeah, although he received a broken arm," Fluttershy added to Rainbow's explanation.

"Well, that sucks," he said. The group looked up as the bell above the door jingled. Casey dropped his glass onto the table and he stopped blinking. Luckily the glass didn't break, but it rolled around on the table top. "Who is that?" Casey asked in a breathless voice as a milky white girl with electric blue hair, purple shades and a huge headphones over her ears, walked into the cafe and up to the front counter.

"What can I get ya?" Mrs. Cake asked. The girl said nothing and pointed to a glazed doughnut in the display case. Mrs. Cake grabbed one from the case and dropped it into a bag for the girl whom paid her promptly. Casey's eyes followed her as she sat down alone in a booth in the corner and began to eat her glazed doughnut.

"Who, Vinyl Scratch?" Rarity answered Casey's question with her own question.

_"That's _Vinyl Scratch?" Casey referenced the girl Applejack mentioned earlier.

"Yeah, why do you ask Casey?" Fluttershy asked.

"I-I've never seen a girl like her before, she's _amazing_," his voice broke.

"Oooooh, someone's got a crush!" Pinkie Pie teased and bopped Casey's nose with her index finger. The Brit failed to notice as Vinyl took off her purple sunglasses and swiftly cleaned them with a napkin, revealing her magenta eyes temporarily.

"Oh my God," Casey whispered and turned away from Vinyl, feeling weird tightness in his chest.

"Casey, are you feeling okay?" Fluttershy placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I need to talk to her," Casey replied, "but first, is she seeing anyone?" he asked.

"Nnope, she's single," Applejack said.

"Oh crap, what do I say, can you girls help me?" Casey pleaded. The five girls looked at each other before looking back at Casey.

"Just go over and say hi and take it from there, easy peasy," Pinkie explained.

"But what if I freeze and make an arse out of myself?" Casey worried.

"You're one of the nicest guys in the world Casey, just be yourself and I'm sure she'll like you," Fluttershy encouraged her friend, "just remember that girls like honesty," she added.

"Hmm, you two would make an adorable and appropriate couple," Rarity pondered. Casey could feel his inner George McFly surfacing and groaned before resting his head on his hand.

"Come on," Rainbow rolled her eyes and motioned for Pinkie Pie to move, "grow a pair and go talk to her you pansy," she literally shoved Casey towards Vinyl's table. The Brit gulped as he caught himself and began to move under his own leg power. He kept thinking about what he was going to say to her when he approached, but feared he may not be able to get the words out.

Vinyl was nearly finished with her glazed doughnut and had taken off her headphones and paused her music. She wiped her hands with a napkin before looking up to see Casey approaching her. "Uh, hi, is this seat taken?" Casey nervously gulped.

"No, help yourself," she replied with a small smile, "nice accent too, what's your name?" she asked.

"Casey, Casey Knight," Casey cracked his knuckles, still trying to look at Vinyl without losing his breath.

"Cool, I'm Vinyl Scratch. Nice shirt too, I love the Union Jack flag," she explained and balled up her last napkin. "So, not that I don't want your company, but what made you want to sit down with me?" She curiously questioned.

"Thanks, and well uh, I thought you might want some company," he said, "that and I just moved back here from London and I thought I'd try to make some more friends besides Fluttershy over there," he motioned to his best friend.

"You're friends with Fluttershy? That's cool, she's a good kid," Vinyl retorted.

"So, Applejack tells me you run a music shop?" Casey tried to keep the conversation going.

"Yep, whatever you need, guitars, basses, drums, keyboards, strings, drum sticks, straps, music sheet stands, microphones," she listed off what her shop sold, "my parents own it, but I run it after school to help fund my DJ gigs," she explained.

"You're a DJ? That's actually pretty cool. Do you have a stage name?" The Brit started to feel a little more relaxed.

"DJ-Pon3, but yeah only when I'm on stage," Vinyl said, "other times people call me Vinyl, Vinyl Scratch or just "V", my friend Octavia always calls me by my full name, she's English too, I think you might like her," the DJ added. Casey sort of ignored the last part of her sentence, still intrigued by Vinyl.

"I'm a musician too. I play the electric guitar," Casey said.

"How long have you played?" Vinyl questioned, leaning her back onto her seat in the booth.

"Since I was eight. I've had the same guitar for that entire time; I just love to play.

"You ever had any gigs?"

"Nope, never could find a band good enough to stay with longterm," Casey shrugged.

"You know, I could use a guitar player for some of my DJ gigs," Vinyl suggested. "If your guitar skills are as good as your looks, then I wouldn't mind playin' some gigs with ya," she calmly said.

"I would like th- I'm sorry what did you say?" Casey cocked his head to the side to hear Vinyl better.

"What? I think you're pretty cute, is that a problem?" She teased.

"No, of course not," Casey replied as calmly as possible. '_Crap, she's flirting with me, what do I do?'_ Casey thought to himself while the two met a wall of silence. Vinyl looked back down at her phone when a napkin hit Casey upside his head. Curious, he looked behind him to see Fluttershy signaling him to open the napkin. Acting quickly, the British guitarist unraveled the napkin and read the message.

_Talk about her favorite music and keep your cool, you're doing great :)_

Casey waved a thank you to Fluttershy and turned back to Vinyl. "So uh, what music where you listening to before you started on your doughnut there?" He asked. Vinyl set her phone down on the table and looked back up to Casey.

"Just a little Van Halen and Aerosmith, you like either of those bands?" Vinyl replied. Instead of replying to the actual question, Casey decided to go for broke and return the flirt.

"I knew you were my kind of girl," he smirked.

"Oh really, what kind of girl is that Casey?" She leaned closer, awaiting his answer.

"The gorgeous kind that have great tastes in music," Casey mustered up as much confidence as he could. Vinyl said nothing in response, instead she stared at Casey through her sunglasses before slowly removing them. Casey's heart pounded, both for fear of what she was going to say and for his feelings for her. Her magenta eyes blinked when she took off her sunglasses and set them on the table.

"Smooth, I like that," her deep eyes locked onto Casey's pale green orbs. "I guess it's true, British guys know how to treat a lady," she winked. "Say Casey, wanna come see my music shop? I can show you my selection of strings, picks and guitars," she offered and put her sunglasses back on.

"Right now?" Casey mentally did a double-take.

"Yeah sure, I've got free time, and I've got some inventory to finish up on, plus I can show you my DJ setup if you want," she stood up from her booth.

"O-okay, that sounds good," Casey stood up as well and the two headed for the exit. Holding the door open for Vinyl, Casey blushed as the five girls all gave him a thumbs up. "I'll text ya later Fluttershy," Casey remarked as he and Vinyl left.

"Ah'm no expert on romance, but Ah'd say he did pretty well," Applejack leaned her arm on the back of the chair.

"Pretty well? Pretty WELL!?" Pinkie exclaimed loudly, "we've got a new couple on our hands here! Wub 'N Roll!"

"Wub 'N Roll, whatever do you mean Pinkie?" Rarity asked in a puzzled tone.

"Duh, Vinyl likes her Wub Wub music and Casey likes his Rock 'N Roll: Wub 'N Roll!" Pinkie explained.

* * *

**(Vinyl's Music Shop)**

Vinyl unlocked the main door to shop and turned on all the lights, leading Casey inside. "Alright, here she is, the Scratch family music shop," Vinyl announced as Casey looked over the guitar section of the store.

"Wow, nice selection," Casey picked up a guitar nearly identical to the one Steve Clark played for Def Leppard.

"How about this, play me any guitar solo from any song, and if you wow me enough, I'll give something on the house," she offered up.

"No, I couldn't do that to your store Vinyl," Casey tried to sound reasonable.

"Shut up and shred," Vinyl ordered him.

"Yes ma'am," Casey strapped on the guitar and plugged it into the nearest Peavy amp. "How about Stagefright?" Casey asked. Vinyl gave him the thumbs up and leaned forward on the counter, waiting to hear what Casey could do. The Brit strummed the guitar a few times to make sure it was in tune before performing the solo. Finally, Casey sucked in a deep breath before placing his fingers in the correct position and began the solo.

Casey leaned his head back and let his fingers work their magic on the guitar strings. Shutting his eyes so he could better feel the solo, Casey's hands became a blur once the heart of the solo hit. Vinyl once again removed her sunglasses and stood, mesmerized by how fluent and in control Casey was on the guitar. Once the solo was over, Casey breathed deeply and took the guitar off his back and switched off the amp. "So, how was that?" He asked before setting the guitar back on the rack on the wall.

"I think I got something you'll like," Vinyl appeared from behind the counter and approached Casey.

"A new strap would be-" Casey started before Vinyl grabbed his shoulders and rammed her lips onto his. "MMMPH!" Casey exclaimed in shock as Vinyl began to make out with him. He got another shock as the DJ parted his lips with her tongue and stuck it inside his mouth and started to explore. She then pushed him into a wall and ran her hands over his muscular chest. His hormones taking control, Casey leaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Vinyl and began to rub her back. Vinyl moaned as his hands explored her back and their tongues wrestled for dominance.

The two finally broke for air and breathed hard and short. "Well, that, was, unexpected," Casey said in between breaths, still sandwiched between the wall and Vinyl.

"I've never had a guy with the balls to flirt with me like that, or have a smexy accent like that," Vinyl said, breathing hard as well.

"Do you just randomly make out with any guy who compliments you?" Casey smirked.

"No, but with you, I made an exception," she replied. "Truth is, I saw you when I walked into Sugar Cube Corner and I hoped you'd come talk to me; I've got a thing for guitarists, especially British ones," she playfully nibbled on his neck. Casey returned the favor and started nibbling on her neck, the two of them receiving hickeys in the process.

"So, what does this mean?" Casey asked, pausing from the little steamy session between the two.

"What are you talking about?" Vinyl looked up from laying her head on Casey's shoulder.

"Well, are we a thing now?" He asked. Rolling her eyes, Vinyl grabbed his shoulders again.

"Let me answer that," she stuck her tongue down his throat again and pushed him back against the wall. Casey threw all logic out the window and continuing the make out session that erupted out of nowhere. The new couple continued making out well into the night and only stopped when they noticed the street lights come on. "Holy crap, we've been making out for four hours?" Casey couldn't feel his lips anymore.

"When you're with the right person, time doesn't mean shit," Vinyl slipped her skewed T-Shirt back over her shoulder. "Heh, I've got four missed calls and seven texts, half from my folks and the other half from Octavia. Boy won't she be surprised I bagged me a Brit," Vinyl checked her phone.

"Oop, I win," Casey smirked, "eight missed calls, only two from my folks, the other six from Fluttershy and twelve texts, all from Fluttershy," he bragged. "That reminds me, better not forget to swap numbers," Casey suggested.

"Well, you've already got mine," Vinyl put her sunglasses back on.

"What? When and where?" Casey asked.

"Let's just say, one of those bulges aren't natural," she teased. Looking down, Casey saw a wad in his pocket next to his, yeah. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Vinyl's number.

"When did you?"

"Right after we started making out, what do you think I was doing behind the counter?" Vinyl playfully punched his arm.

"You sly tease," Casey rubbed his arm.

"Shoot me a text when you get home; I'll see you in school tomorrow," Vinyl escorted Casey out of the music shop and locked up. As Casey walked the streets back home, he shot a text to Vinyl and one to Fluttershy.

_Fluttershy: I'm SO proud of you Casey! Can't wait to see you tomorrow in school. I hope we have the same classes._

Lying down on his bed, Casey put on his headphones and turned his phone to the song that kept playing over and over in his head.

_Lady Strange, Lady Strange, I want you_

_Lady Strange, Lady Strange, I need you_

* * *

_Okay, so this is the story of how Vinyl and Casey got together. I got the inspiration from when I listened to Def Leppard's Lady Strange. _


	3. Equestria Girls: No Strings Attached

**Vault: MLP One-Shot Collection**

**Equestria Girls: No Strings Attached**

_A few weeks after the grand finale in the Battle of the Bands, Applejack is still simmering over the incident in '_A Case for the Bass'_ every time she passes the Flim Flam Brothers' Everything under the sun Emporium. She knew she couldn't let them get away with not only trying to con her out of $2,000 for her bass, but also for forcing her to wear a banana suit in public as payment for her instrument. But, the farm girl didn't know what to do to teach those conniving brothers a lesson. That all changed one Sunday afternoon during a walk through town with her friends Fluttershy and Casey Knight. What did they come up with to get back at Flim and Flam? Read and find out!_

* * *

**(Canterlot City, June)**

It was a relaxing Summer day in Canterlot City, California. The brilliant sun beat down upon the citizens of the city, blanketing them with an 85 degree day without a cloud in sight. Since it was a Sunday, the town was alive with people buying milkshakes or lemonade to cool them off or heading to the public pool with their families. The students of the local high school took advantage of the beautiful day, still relishing the few weeks they'd been off from school and looking forward to the remaining months of freedom. Two of them in particular had just exited the animal shelter, having spent the morning volunteering their time to clean the cages of various animals or to just give them a few hours of someone to play with.

One half of the pair was a yellow skinned girl with thick, flowing pink hair that had a butterfly hairpiece tucked into the side. Her outfit consisted of a white tank top, a pair of green boots and a green skirt with butterfly logos. And she had the kindest eyes that made it difficult for most people to say no to her if she asked for help or asked them if she could help. "Thanks again for letting us volunteer, Mrs. Fauna!" She waved cheerily back inside the animal shelter, throwing a strap from a backpack over her back.

"The animals love you, Fluttershy!" The woman called back, "please return at any time!" the owner of the shelter replied from her desk as the sounds of barking animals and meowing cats were muffled behind the closing door. The second half of the pair, a grey skinned British male with a jet black mullet, blue jeans, converse sneakers and a Union Jack tank top couldn't help but grin at how giddy his friend got around animals. "With your help, they'll still be there tomorrow Fluttershy, or hopefully they'll get adopted," the boy awaited Fluttershy to catch up so they could stroll through town, thinking of something to do.

"I know it's good for them when they find a loving home, but I always miss some of the pets I grow attached to," she said gloomily. A soft breeze blew across the street they had begun journeying down, cooling their skin of the mugginess they were stuck in inside the shelter. "I'm also glad you could come and help, Casey," Fluttershy added, quickly nuzzling him on the shoulder.

"Always glad to spend time with ya, Flutters," Casey responded, grabbing her around the shoulders for a hug before continuing to walk down the street. "And don't worry, you're not just some backup when Vinyl's gone," he assured her, putting an earbud into his left ear.

"Oh, I know," Fluttershy smiled, "how is Vinyl's show in Los Angeles?"

"Last she texted me, everything was going good," he responded. "She's met some really nice people and has made bank on tips," he added before taking another look back at the animal shelter that was growing smaller with each step they took. Fluttershy was about to ask him another question before noticing where he was looking.

"Do you miss them already too?" She giggled, "we can go back anytime, you know that," Fluttershy slowed her pace alongside Casey as a few more street walkers walked past them. The Brit just shook his head before looking up at his friend.

"Just a little glad to get out of there, Flutters," Casey ran a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh of relief. Fluttershy did a double take and gasped. Casey seemed to enjoy his time helping her with the lonely animals; he didn't look as if he was _acting_ like he was having fun.

"I thought you liked animals, especially dogs?" Fluttershy asked as the duo stopped at a streetlight. A few cars honked and rolled on by loudly, forcing Casey to hold back until it was quiet enough for Fluttershy to hear.

"Yeah, I do, but I swear that doberman was out to get me when you weren't in the room," the Brit shuddered, impatiently tapping his foot for the crosswalk sign to turn green. Fluttershy couldn't help but laugh at Casey's statement, placing a hand atop his shoulder.

"Aw, Sprinkles is a real sweetheart, Casey. You just gotta let them know you're their friend," the sweet girl smiled at the guitarist. Finally, the sign turned green, granting the two permission to cross.

"Who names a doberman Sprinkles? And at any rate, I could see in his eyes he was planning on turning me into the next Rick Allen to use my arm as a chew toy; I'd like to keep BOTH of my arms, thank you very much," he argued, jamming his hands into his pocket to grab his cell phone once they crossed the street to another sidewalk.

"I know, you want to keep playing the guitar," Fluttershy teasingly rolled her eyes.

"Guitar? Yeah, there's that, but I meant for cuddling with Vinyl," Casey selected a song on his phone and adjusted the ear bud in his ear. "Anyway," he continued, "anyone else doing anything today?" he asked. The animal enthusiast folded one arm across her chest to support her other arm to scratch under chin, helping her think. "I mean, Rarity drug Sweetie Belle to San Francisco for shopping, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are watching the X-Games all day and Applebloom went with Granny Smith to visit her cousin Braeburn in Vallejo," Casey counted off what the rest of his bandmates were preoccupied with that day.

"Well, that takes care of Rainbow Dash and Rarity," Fluttershy pondered. "I know Sunset was offered to go to the spa with Lyra and Bon Bon, and I don't think Twilight is coming back from Equestria anytime soon," she continued as they rounded a corner. "And Pinkie Pie is in DisneyLand, lucky duck."

"Heard anything from Applejack then?" Casey turned to look at his friend. Fluttershy dug into her backpack to retrieve her phone before Casey stopped her. "Speaking of which," he chuckled, "hey Applejack!" he greeted an orange teenager with long blonde hair, a cowgirl hat, brown cowgirl boots with a logo of three apples on each boot, a jean skirt with a brown belt and a red and green button up shirt. Up ahead, the girl in question waved to the duo, holding down her hat as she jogged towards them. She had weave her way through a few others on the sidewalk on her way over.

"What a nice coincidence," Fluttershy inserted her phone back into her backpack and hung it onto her shoulders.

"Howdy ya two," Applejack greeted, lowering her hand from her hat. A few droplets of sweat formed on her forehead from her run in the heat as waved to her friends. "Volunteerin' at the shelter again, Fluttershy?"

"Yep, Casey and I just got done and were looking for someone else to hang out with," she explained, "and it's too nice of a day to spend playing Super Nintendo games, sorry Casey," Fluttershy apologized. Casey grinned and hit pause on his phone.

"Yeah I get that, Flutters. We always have spare time for that anyways," he patted her shoulder before looking back at Applejack. "Say, I know you probably just came from home, Applejack, but if you're not doing anything else, how about we go swimming at your pond?" he suggested. Applejack's irises shrank and she bit her lower lip, looking down at her feet.

"Yeah, that can't work out," she rubbed her shoulder. The three stood in silence, acting like a large road hazard that other people were forced to maneuver around on the sidewalk.

"Something the matter, Applejack?" Fluttershy

"You and Big Mac get into another fight over Applebloom dating again?" Casey smirked, moving out of the way of a tourist with a huge map. Applejack breathed through her nose, removing her hand from her arm.

"Naw, Big Mac's over that since he 'officially' met Featherweight when school ended," Applejack replied.

"Well, what's wrong then?" Casey scratched his ear. "I mean, it's really freakin' hot today; I figured we could cool off," he repeated. Fluttershy shrugged when Casey looked over at her for a possible explanation. Applejack usually didn't seem so worried like this; it was a little strange to the Brit.

"Ah decided ta give Big Mac the pond fer today since Granny Smith 'n Applebloom are gone," Applejack delineated. "especially since he invited Cheerilee over fer swimmin' today," she added.

"But we like your brother and Ms. Cheerilee," Fluttershy countered, "I don't mind joining them, do you, Casey?" She motioned to the boy standing next to her. Casey shook his head back and forth, his mullet bobbing and copying the motions.

"They're uh, they're swimmin' _au naturale," _Applejack coughed into her fist. Fluttershy's face went from yellow to bright red while Casey nodded his head with pursed lips, looking elsewhere. "Eeyup, Ah had no choice," AJ forced a chuckled from her mouth.

"And we're walking," Casey politely placed his hand on the small of Applejack's back, gently encouraging both her and Fluttershy to walk and change the subject. Thankfully, the two girls caught on and resumed walking. "Anyway, did you have any plans, AJ? Or did you come to town to get away from the farm?" He asked, walking in between them.

"Actually, a little 'o both. After findin' out about, _that_, Ah was just gonna go see what Ivan was up ta," she explained, spreading a smile across her face. However, Casey had a smile of his own. Having done this with the Crusaders, Casey couldn't pass up the opportunity to do a little teasing amongst friends.

"Oh, Mr. Ivan huh?" his knuckles lightly tapped on Applejack's shoulders. "things still going good between you two, AJ?" He asked, giving her a cheesy smile. "How numb do your lips get after you see him?" Casey added, sticking his tongue out at the farmer.

"Shut yer mouth, mister," Applejack tried to sound intimidating, but wound up sounding flustered, "we've only been together a few weeks," she attempted to argue before Fluttershy spoke.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Applejack," Fluttershy assured her friend, "being able to share your life with someone else in a romantic manner is beautiful, right Casey?" she asked.

"Embarrassin' only counts if someone talks ta me about it like _him_," AJ jabbed her thumb towards Casey. "Ah like Ivan, he's a sweet guy that's hard workin' 'n can take care 'o himself, what's not ta like about him?" she threw her arms in the air. She signed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "at least yer not as annoyin' as Rarity about this," she admitted as the three rounded a corner.

"So then, do you want us to walk with you to Ivan's?" Fluttershy offered, "you know, if it's okay with you," she added. However, neither Casey nor Fluttershy got a response out of the cowgirl as they continued down the street. Her silence was like someone accidentally bumping the mute button on a remote. Her face began to scowl, eyebrows furrowing as her nostrils flared. "Applejack, are you okay?" The meek girl worriedly asked.

"Did you get a pebble in your boot?" Casey checked out her brown cowgirl boots. He was well aware that that couldn't be the case; he was just trying to make conversation out of the awkward silence. Applejack replied to both Fluttershy and Casey with a curt grunt, not turning to look at either of them. "Come on," Casey implored, "what's wrong, mate?" he asked, getting in front of Applejack and walking backwards.

"Oh, that's why," Fluttershy commented as the trio approached the entrance to a particular store. Applejack tried to pick up the pace, but was stopped when Casey paused in front of her.

"What?" Casey questioned, starting to sound a little impatient. The Brit turned around and looked up to see a sign that read: _The Flim Flam Brothers' Everything Under the Sun Emporium._ Casey had never set foot inside the pawn shop, but he recalled the story that Fluttershy told him concerning the proprietors of the establishment trying to con Applejack out of $2,000 dollars for her own bass which was sold by her grandmother by mistake. "Oh, you're not still mad about the banana suit fiasco, are you, Applejack?" he inquired. Suddenly, the door to the knick-knack store flung open with the ringing of a bell to reveal none other than the Flim Flam brothers with their smug grins.

"Well, well, well," the mustachioed brother greeted, "if it isn't our favorite advertising mascot and a few of her friends," he chuckled.

"Too right, Flam," the twin agreed, "what was your name again missy?" He appeared behind Applejack, leaning against her shoulder with his elbow, "Kumquatjack, Kiwijack, Grapefruitjack?" He gave off a cheesy grin to the orange girl.

"Her name is _Apple_jack, you know that, um, sirs," Fluttershy attempted to sound tough, but her kind persona wouldn't allow for that.

"How could you forget her name, Flim?" Flam twirled his mustache from the doorway. "Perhaps because she looked better in, _yellow_?" He snickered, holding up the banana suit that AJ was forced to wear to collect her bass. Applejack growled and whirled away from the twins, attempting to stomp away before all three teens were whisked into the pawn shop.

"Hey!" Casey exclaimed, "we didn't come to town looking to buy junk," he insulted Flim and Flam. The owners of the shop jumped up from behind the counter with their song and dance faces ready to go. Flam leaned forward on his elbows, getting uncomfortably close to Fluttershy.

"So, what'll it be, little miss?" He asked, pulling up a few random items from the shelf behind the counter. "Battery operated battery charger, unopened Pepsi-Cola bottle from the 1950s that's still good for drinkin'? He placed the items on the counter, "How about the complete guide to dissecting cute little animals, only $9.95?" Flam wiggled the book in front of Fluttershy.

"GAH!" Fluttershy squealed and hid her eyes from the book.

"Too intense for you, huh?" Flim twirled a cap in the air that landed perfectly atop his head. "How about a photo of Sean Connery from his 007 days signed by Roger Moore?" A framed picture appeared in his hand.

"What the heck is that even for?" Casey asked, studying the picture. "I'll bet that's fake," he added folding his arms.

"We can assure you, young man, that every autographed 007 item in our emporium is 100% legitimate," Flim whisked the picture back behind the counter. "And considering that that is the only autographed piece of 007 memorabilia we have, that statement is true," he coughed and spoke quickly. "We do have other autographed items, such as sporting equipment, cads hats, name it if you'd like." Casey rolled his eyes and looked over at Fluttershy who was still shaking from seeing the animal book. Applejack just had an angry look carved into her face.

"Hmm, you're British, are you not?" Flam studied Casey, scratching at his chin.

"What gave it away? My accent or my shirt, Sherlock?" The Brit sneered, glowering at the two brothers.

"I heard a yes, brother," Flim nudged Flam in the ribs with his elbow. "Hmm, the mullet, the UJ tank top, the converse sneakers, you're a musician are you not?" the con artist snapped his fingers. Casey's only response was a bored yawn, but that was acceptable enough for Flim and Flam. "Wait here just a second; don't go anywhere," Flim requested as he slinked over and blocked the exit with a few boxes.

"Ah'd like a brand spankin' new WAY TA LEAVE!" Applejack shouted at Flam who was still sitting behind the counter.

"Sorry missy, fresh out of that," he smugly winked at her. Applejack gritted her teeth and turned away from the owner so she could concentrate on not strangling the both of them. "Ah, thank you brother," Flam said to Flim as he dropped off a particular item. "Ahem, for the musical gentleman, a signed copy of Def Leppard's _Adrenalize_ album?" He suggested, handing over the record to Casey. "See? It's signed by every member," Flam's index finger pointed to every signature, "how about we start at oh $8,000?" Both brothers grinned hopefully.

Attempting to amuse them and also feeling intrigued, Casey scanned his eyes over the giant eyeball on the front of the album. "We can start a little lower if you'd like," Flim suggested, "perhaps $7,800 and your tank top?" Flim drummed his fingers along the top of the counter.

"This, this is a joke right?" Casey asked, throwing the album back at the Flim Flam brother's faces.

"Hey, you break it you-" Flam twirled his mustache before Casey cut him off.

"Steve Clark's 'signature' is on the album," Casey's index finger jabbed at the record cover. Flim and Flam both grabbed the album and looked it over, confused by Casey's words.

"And what's the big deal? He was their guitarist if I'm not mistaken," Flam slid the album back over to Casey. "Darn good guitarist if I do say so myself," he cracked his knuckles smugly.

"It's a shame Clark _died_ a year before the album was finished," Casey put his hands on his hips. Applejack huffed and Fluttershy glared at Flim and Flam for attempting to swindle Casey. The color swiftly drained from Flim and Flam's faces as they tossed the record behind them where a loud _crash_ followed suit. "Yeah, we're out of here," Casey moved away from the counter.

"Best idea Ah've heard all day!" Applejack cheered.

"Hold on now!" Flim skidded in front of the door, accidentally knocking over the boxes. He waved his arms frantically, signaling to his twin brother that he needed to bring out more items to sell. "Can we interest you in soda cup hat?" He held up a blue New York Yankees cap with empty cans of Pepsi on either side and a chewed up nozzle.

"Or possibly a flamethrower which we're not sure is legal?" Flam dangled a WWII flamethrower in front of the trio. All three shook their heads in fear of a punctured hole in one of the gas tanks, making them move hastily out of the store. "Come on, a flamethrower is something you can't live without!" he swindler placated.

"If we can't live with it," Fluttershy began, "how come we're all still alive?" she rolled her eyes.

"Not even this t-shirt of a cute little pegasus for the meek lady?" Flim seemed to materialize in the doorway wearing a blue shirt that had a red pegasus with a light brown mane and tail in the middle. Applejack shoved him out of the way, allowing the three to get out.

"Okay, you'll think about it, very smart!" Flam tapped the side of his head. "Stop by again soon! Our poor banana suit is feeling cold!" He called out to Applejack, making her grumble and clench her teeth as the brothers' door shut, complete with the jingle of the little bell. Fluttershy and Casey did a double take when they realized how fast AJ had was getting away from the pawn shop, stomping no less.

"Applejack, wait!" Fluttershy pleaded, running to catch up. The farmer was already a good half block away by the time Casey and Fluttershy were able to walk evenly with her. "I know those two can be frustrating to deal with."

"Ah'd love ta take a banana 'n shove-" Applejack started but stopped before her anger caused her to say something stupid. Casey power walked a little faster to get ahead of Applejack.

"Look AJ, you can't let them treat you like that out in the street; you have much more dignity than that," he explained, walking sideways so he could still talk straight to her face. Applejack snorted, grumbled and rolled her eyes all at the same time.

"They done took most 'o my dignity already," she argued, clenching her fists.

"I would think after the Battle of the Bands, you'd have that back?"

"Ah'd like ta think that, but then every time Ah see a dadgum banana, ugh," Applejack shuddered, shaking her head back and forth. A crosswalk sign forced the trio to wait on the sidewalk, delaying them further.

"You need justice for this Applejack," Casey suddenly blurted.

"Justice?" Applejack snapped her head toward her British friend.

"Of course! Those two cigarettes can't keep mocking you like that, especially after trying to con you out of $2,000 for your OWN instrument!" Casey flailed his arms around like Kermit the Frog. "No offense, but just _threatening_ to beat them up won't do it," Casey drew in a breath after the crosswalk allowed the three to keep walking.

"What are you suggesting, Casey?" Fluttershy nervously bit her lower lip. "Because playback is really more Rainbow Dash's speed," she explained, worried what Casey was brewing up in his mind.

"All I'm suggesting is that AJ won't be able to get over this until she sees justice for what those two nimrods tried to pull, plus she'll get her dignity back permanently," he explained. "But we'll need a better place to think than the street!" Casey shouted over the roar of a semi truck's horn.

"Ah know a place; Ah was headin' there anyway," Applejack's scowl turned into a little smile.

* * *

**(Ivan's House. 3rd Person POV)**

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Come in!" A teenage boy's muffled voice called from behind a white door. Applejack, Casey and Fluttershy had trekked to the residential part of Canterlot City, heading in the direction of Ivan Pearson's house. While Ivan's father was in the Air Force, he had decided to house him and his family in a regular neighborhood rather than the Air Force base in hopes of Ivan making new friends for his latter years of High School. Luckily, Ivan's parents liked all of his friends and warmly welcomed them on this Sunday afternoon. Ivan's mother informed them that he was in his room, watching his favorite sport.

"Hey Ivan," Applejack greeted as she swung his bedroom door open. Out of the trio, Casey was only one who had yet to see Ivan's room, so he was a tad jealous that Ivan had a 40" flat screen TV in his room complete with a PS3 and a PS4, though he didn't much care for what was on TV. Ivan turned around and smiled, jumping up from his bed and hugged his girlfriend.

"Good to see you, AJ," he hugged her tightly as she kissed his cheek. "And you too Fluttershy," he shook the yellow girl's hand. Applejack relinquished the hug, allowing Ivan to see the third person who'd entered his room. The two males locked eyes like a pair of desperadoes in a Western movie preparing for a duel. Both Casey and Ivan extended their arms and grabbed each other's hand. "Casey, good to see you," Ivan greeted, shaking his hand. Casey clicked his tongue, shifting his eyes to the TV during its commercial.

"Same," he replied, a grin spread across his face. "Mr. Left turn," he joked, releasing Ivan's hand and bringing his own down to his side.

"Oh, haha," the NASCAR fan rolled his eyes, "very original," he walked back over and sat on his bed. "So, how are you guys enjoying summer?" A can of Pepsi _hissed_ as he popped the top.

"Pretty good," Fluttershy replied, "summer vacation just gives me a better excuse to help the poor animals who don't have a permanent home yet," she both gushed and looked sad at the same time, loving helping the animals but saddened that no one would adopt some of them. Fluttershy and Casey both sat down on a pair of chairs Ivan had in front of a desk while AJ joined him on the bed, leaning into his chest

"Vinyl, the girls and I have been getting some good gigs in a few restaurants," Casey bragged, crossing his feet on the floor. "Shame we're not 21 yet; we could expand our audience and maybe come up with new song ideas in bars," he said wishfully.

"Ah just wanted ta see what you were doin' Sugarcube," Applejack cuddled closer to Ivan. He wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her closer.

"Maybe we can all go for milkshakes after my race?" He questioned. "Or maybe an early dinner at Hard Rock Cafe?" Casey's eyes lit up at the latter idea, but Fluttershy's voice reminded him of why they came to Ivan's house in the first place.

"Well, that does sound nice," Fluttershy began, "but Applejack was on her way to see you already when she bumped into us and-" she continued before the TV interrupted her.

_"And welcome back to Fox Sports 1's coverage of the Toyota Save Mart 350 here at Sonoma Raceway!" _A NASCAR announcer declared. Ivan immediately jolted up, causing Applejack to fall backwards onto the pillow with an '_oof!_'

"Applejack, are you alright there?" Casey asked, trying to suppress a snicker. The girl in question grumbled, getting up from the bed, shaking her head at her boyfriend and marched over to where Casey and Fluttershy were sitting and sat down on top of the desk, her legs dangled off the edge. However, Ivan didn't seem to notice; his eyes were fixated on the TV, studying the images of stock cars whizzing by the camera.

"Ah'm okay, Casey," she crossed her arms over her chest. "Ivan's a little distracted when his NASCAR is on," she explained. "Luckily he only does this when it's on TV; a few hours once a week is no skin off my nose," Applejack added, blowing a strand of her blonde hair out of her eye.

"The bloody hell are they doing turning right?" Casey asked, scrunching his nose and squinting one eye at the TV.

"Ivan explained that they go to road courses twice a year; Ah pay little ta no attention," Applejack explained. "Anyway, that's not why we're here," she reminded. "Ya say we need ta come up with a way ta gets back at the Flim Flam brothers?" Casey, busy drumming his fingers atop his wrist, looked away from the TV back to the southern accented girl.

"Of course. Walking through town shouldn't be mentally anguishing for you," Casey replied, stretching his arms behind his head. "They know that they and their store upset you and they abuse the crap out of it; you can't let them hold that power of you, Applejack," he informed her.

"So, what should we do, Casey?" Fluttershy inquired. "Go to Kinkos and make flyers about how the Flim Flam brothers are con artists?" She suggested.

"Ah think most people are well aware 'o that, Fluttershy," Applejack scratched her chin, "yet somehow they still manage ta stay afloat," she added, leaning her back against the wall.

"Besides, that would take too long to work if most people are unaware of their shameful business practice," Casey agreed with Applejack.

"Oh my God, you suck!" Ivan suddenly shouted, drawing the attention of all three of his amigos.

"Hey! I don't here you coming up with any ideas to help us!" Casey spat.

"Nice going tire changer, you just cost Jeff a freakin' penalty!" Ivan shouted at his TV monitor.

"It's better not ta ask while there's a race goin' on," Applejack rubbed her finger over her top lip. Casey shrugged, shaking his head with a sigh. "Heh, anyway, are ya sure we should even try ta get payback on those two varmints?" She asked. "Ah mean, my Granny always taught myself, Applebloom 'n Big Mac that revenge makes ya just as bad the person who wronged ya in the first place."

"Your grandmother is a wise one, I'll give ya that," Casey agreed, "but those crooks don't feel remorse for what they do. They even tried to con $7,800 and my own shirt out of me for a forged Steve Clark signature!" He exclaimed. "If they go as low as that and your bass, then there's no low they won't reach," he concluded. Applejack sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Applejack?" Fluttershy called out. The farmer released her nose from her fingers and looked over at the meek teenager sitting next to Casey. "You know I'm not the person to go to on matters like this, but what if we can get back at them without causing physical harm or property damage?" She suggested.

"Trust me Fluttershy, Ah'm all fer not stoopin' lower than them, but how can we make an impact without resortin' ta any 'o that?" AJ demanded.

"I've got a few ideas, but they only worked on TV shows," Casey cleared his throat, "and they'd probably land us in jail if we got caught," he added, grabbing a pad of yellow paper and a pen from Ivan's desk. "Hope he doesn't mind us borrowing these."

"You're such a freaking moron Gustafson!" The NASCAR fan shouted, not even paying attention to what was going on.

"Didn't think so," Casey said condescendingly, clicking on the pen. "Okay, what if we super glue or rubber cement their doors shut when they leave for the night?" the pen scribbled the idea down on the notepad. "If they can't get in, they can't swindle anybody else," Casey wiggled his eyebrows.

"But wouldn't it hurt them financially either way?" Fluttershy countered, "if they can't run their business, they'll lose all of their money, or they spend the majority of their money getting the doors fixed or replaced and then they could get behind on their monthly rent," she explained. Casey looked over for Applejack's verdict before crossing out his idea.

"Okay, scratch that," he mumbled.

"What if we buy a whole bunch 'o rotten bananas 'n shove 'em in the air ducts on top 'o their store?" Applejack thought up, "their whole store'll smell like a dump; who would wanna shop in a place that smells like a dump?" She questioned enthusiastically. Casey jotted down the idea, not fond of it, but it was the best one they'd come up with so far.

"We'll keep that one in the maybe pile," Casey said. His idea tank was running on low, but having both Fluttershy and Applejack's on him reminded the Brit that getting payback was his idea. He understood that he couldn't convince his friends to try and think of ways to get back at the Flim Flam brothers and just abruptly quit.

"Hmm, how about one of us sneaks in during business hours and pretends to browse for something?" Fluttershy adjusted in her seat, "then with a label maker, we mark all of their prices 99% off? It's not like we'll be robbing them or causing property damage," she shrugged, sitting back down.

"Not too shabby, Flutters," Casey complimented, scribbling down her notion.

"Ah think that may work," Applejack agreed, cracking her knuckles, "'n if they try ta take back the price, that's technically illegal ta price change like that unless they can prove it _is_ a mistake," she explained. "Filthy Rich spoke at family appreciation day fer Applebloom's middle school class a few years back." Casey and Fluttershy nodded at her extended explanation when they looked confused.

"Not to mention, they seem to not know half of their own inventory not their shelves," Fluttershy interjected.

Ivan growled angrily, catching the quick attention of the trio before returning to the matter at hand. "Any other ideas, girls?" Casey asked curiously, feeling like they had the perfect idea. "Unless you want to combine both ideas," he proposed.

"Nah," AJ shook her head, checking the clock on Ivan's wall. "They're still open 'til seven, do ya wanna try it now or gather up a better game plan fer tomorrow?" She stood up from the desk. Applejack and Casey stood up, but had the exact same expression on their faces after realizing how short term the label idea was. Since it was Fluttershy who came up with the idea, Applejack and Casey barely had the guts to tell her what they realized about the idea, but they had to.

"Let's face it," Casey balled up the paper he'd ripped from the pad and tossed it into the garbage. "If that's the best idea we can come up with that A) Won't land us in jail B) Won't cause them physical harm or C) Won't cause property damage, then they won't learn a lesson or we won't make a deep enough impact," he admitted.

"Thank goodness," Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm not very good at coming up with ideas for this, I'm glad you agree."

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Casey tossed the pad and pen back onto the desk. "You girls are too nice and honest to do something like this, sorry for trying to drag you into something you're both above," he apologized.

"Don't sweat it none, Casey," Applejack smiled warmly. "Yer just lookin' out fer friends, Ah completely understand," she placed a hand on his shoulder. "But we can't give up now; those creeps _deserve_ some comeuppance, we just gotta take some more time than ten minutes ta think of an idea good enough," she explained.

"An idea good enough for what?" Ivan suddenly asked, making the three jump. The TV was off and the boy was standing in front of them, holding a can of Pepsi in his hand. "Sorry, race is over; Kyle Busch won," he informed the trio.

"Oh, how'd Jeff do?" Applejack released Casey's shoulder, turning her full attention to her boyfriend. Ivan's face fell and he bit his lower lip, lightly tapping the can of Pepsi against the side of his leg. "Ah see," AJ replied, feeling sorry for Ivan.

"Wait a minute, you seriously didn't hear us talking about different ways to get back at Flim and Flam?" Casey asked, surprised. "We were talking for a good ten minutes while you were glued to your race."

"Applejack _did_ say Ivan's pretty distracted when races are on," Fluttershy reminded. Ignoring Fluttershy's explanation, Ivan's brain was hard at work, trying to think of where he'd heard those names before.

"Flim and Flam? Oh, banana suit!" He snapped his fingers triumphantly, "oops, sorry hun," he apologized when Applejack glared at him. He cleared his throat of his faux pas before continuing his original inquiry. "What are you guys trying to do, exactly?" Casey and Fluttershy stepped back, choosing Applejack as the one to explain their current plan to Ivan.

"Well, Casey here said that until Ah see those brothers get what's comin' ta them, Ah won't really get my dignity back from, ya know," she quickly filled him in. "So, we're tryin' ta come up with ideas that can make a good enough impact on them or make them learn their lesson."

"Learn a lesson you say?" A sly smile appeared on Ivan's face.

"Without, you know, physically harming them or damaging their property," Fluttershy extinguished a growing idea in his mind. The smile vanished from his face; Ivan brought a finger up to his chin and placed his thumb and index finger on either side.

"Casey," Ivan's face lit up, "are you still friends with the school janitor?" He asked.

"You mean Gordy? Of course I am, why though?" Casey was certainly puzzled at this out of left field question.

"I'll explain later. And Joe's Doughnut shop is right next door to the pawn shop, right?" Ivan took off his black and red hat and replaced it with a jet black _Axalta Racing_ hat that was sitting on his bed post. He was met with a slow round of nodding heads from AJ, Fluttershy and Casey. "Perfect. Casey, you call Gordy and have him meet all of us at Joe's," he instructed.

"Ivan, just what are ya plannin'?" Applejack pressed.

"You're going to get your dignity back, I promise," Ivan pecked her cheek.

* * *

**(Flim Flam Brothers' Everything Under the Sun Emporium)**

"Hey Flam, I think I've got another gold mine idea," Flim said as he and his brother played Go Fish inside their emporium. While it wasn't very good business practice to be sitting around playing cards, the brothers would be at attention ready to con another sucker quicker than ludicrous speed.

"And that would be?" Flam replied, scratching at his red mustache and shifting his eyes from his cards to his brother.

"We get one of those claw machine games and fill them stuffed animals we can buy for $2 a pop from Amazon and charge $1 per play. Nobody can resist the allure of the claw," he grinned.

"Why that's a stupendous idea brother, and we wax the claw with cooking oil, right?" Flam chuckled.

"It's like you're reading my mind, Flam. And not only that, customers get five seconds to try to win, no one can win a prize from a claw game in five seconds," Flim grinned. "Now we gotta find one that's good and cheap, by the way, do you have any threes?" Flim questioned, staring deeply into Flam's eyes in hopes of his brother giving a sign. Flam looked down to see that had two three cards and shook his head.

"Fraid not, go fish," he lied.

_Jingle, jingle, jingle._

In a flash, both brothers left their card table so fast that there were dust clouds of their outlines still sitting on the chairs. "Welcome to the Flim Flam Brothers' Everything Under the Sun Emporium!" Flim and Flam sang simultaneously.

"We just got this- oh, it's you three," Flim set down a golden lightning bolt necklace.

"Come back for that dissecting book did we?" Flam took the book off the shelf and thrust it into Fluttershy's face, causing her to whimper and hide behind Casey. "Still a little squeamish, I see," he said condescendingly.

"Actually my good gents," Casey set a black acoustic guitar case on the counter of the store. "I'm looking to sell _you_ something," he unlatched the locks and opened up the case for the store owners to see.

"What have we here?" Flim and Flam crowded around the case, staring at its contents.

"An acoustic guitar, with lots of dust," Flam drug his finger along the body. Casey grabbed ahold of the instrument and pulled it from the case, setting it down on the counter. From behind him, Applejack bit her lip, trying to hide what they were trying to do. She preoccupied her mind with thoughts of riding horses out in the pastures of her farm with Ivan and having a picnic near the lake.

"You wouldn't happen to have any information on this, antiquated instrument, would you?" Flam twirled his mustache while Flim squinted his eyes, looking not for imperfections or defects, but anything that could be worth money.

"It's just my dad's guitar that he used to play back in high school," Casey explained. "He gave it to me when I was four and I took up electric guitar a few years later, so this thing sat in my closet for a long time. I was hoping that it could be worth something; my girlfriend is coming back from LA tomorrow and I wanted to treat her to a nice dinner, movie and-"

"We didn't need a life's story, Ringo," Flam shut him up. Feeling a little insulted, Casey glowered at the two, holding his anger back. "Does it work?" Flam continued as he and Flim studied the guitar.

"Of course it works; I replaced the strings last year when I thought I could get back into it, but I just didn't feel the music anymore," Casey explained.

"Hmm, wait a minute," Flim blew across the guitar, sending dust particles flying in the air. "There's a signature right here. You know anything about? Whose it is, where it came from, how long it has been there?" he questioned.

"Did your father sign it or was it signed by someone important?" Flam added. Bringing the guitar into more light and blowing more dust off, Flim and Flam could clear as day read the signature: _Jeff Gordon._

"Right, my father told me that he was visiting Indianapolis in 1994 and got some racer to sign it, I think it was Jeff Gordon or whatever," said Casey in a stoical voice. "Actually, he found the guitar, which used to be Gordon's, and Gordon signed it for him, allowing him to keep it as a thank you for being honest," he added.

_"The_ Jeff Gordon?" Flim's jaw nearly hit the counter.

"The stupendously amazing California native?" Flam's hands started to shake.

"The winner of the inaugural Brickyard 400 and four others?" Flim continued.

"The only nine time road course winner in NASCAR with a combined 92 career victories?" Flam braced himself against the counter.

"If you cigarettes say so; I haven't a clue about NASCAR," Casey replied. "But it seems he was pretty good if you know so much about him," he added. Flim and Flam mentally cursed themselves for letting slip that the signature could potentially be worth a lot of money. They both cleared their throats and gently set the instrument back into its case, shutting it softly.

"We constantly buy and sell sports memorabilia kid," Flam supported himself on his arm, leaning toward Casey.

"We've got to be on top of which athletes rake in the big bucks and which ones can't even hold a penny," Flim continued for his brother. "And when it comes to stock car racing, Gordon's name gets tossed around, maybe once or twice," he tried to lie.

"Um, excuse me, but 92 wins doesn't seem like once or twice," Fluttershy commented.

"Indeed," Casey agreed with a bit of a smirk. Flim and Flam gritted their teeth, knowing that this kid currently had the upper hand, but they weren't going to bend over and give him whatever he wanted for the guitar.

"Well, before we get into the negotiating phase," Flim said as his brother opened up a search engine on the shop computer, "first we need to see just how much his signature is worth at the moment," he flipped his hat in the air and caught it on his pinkie finger. "Could be high, could be low," he added with a grin.

"Could be somewhere comfortably in the middle for all we know," Flam typed away on his keyboard.

"Find anythin' yet?" Applejack eyed the duo out of the corner of her eye.

"These things take time, Bananajack," Flim winked at her. Fire erupted from Applejack's eyes her hands clenched up and she got into a lunging stance which Casey stopped immediately, holding her back by her shoulders.

"Are you sure Wikipedia is the website to go for these sort of things?" Fluttershy questioned, getting but a brief glimpse of the computer screen.

"It's the quickest website to pop up, my dear," Flam replied from behind the machine. "Alright," he stopped typing to read the screen, "says here that since Gordon retired last year, his autograph's value will increase every year, so we can't look any higher than," he continued to read. Both brothers exchanged a brief look when they saw that a 'One year since retirement' autograph was only around $4,000; they had to keep this a secret.

"$900," Flim concluded for Flam.

"That's it? After all of these amazing stats?" Casey questioned. "And the fact that he _owned_ the guitar prior to giving it to my father?"

"Look your royal highness," Flim pushed his hat up, "the value is around $2000," he lied, "I'm sure you've seen _Pawn Stars_, we aren't in the business to break even," he folded his arms.

"Correct," Flam agreed, "or else we'd be nothing more than a lending library; what's the fun in that?"

"If the value is $2000, then I'll take $2000, sirs," Casey pushed the guitar case forward.

"Very funny, but no deal. You can probably charm your girlfriend here," the mustachioed brother pointed to Fluttershy who blushed like mad and froze, "but there's no reason for us to just break even like this," he pushed the guitar back to Casey.

"First off, _she's_ like a sister to me," Casey glared, "second, just stop with the song and dance already. _We_ know your little smoke and mirrors trick when trying to make a quick buck, and you know I'm not stupid enough to let this thing go for a measly $900," both Flam and Casey were pushing on the guitar case.

"We haven't a clue what you're talking about," Flim shook his head, "you must be delirious from the heat. Can we interest you our patented Flim Flam brothers' cure all tonic?" he produced a glass bottle with a picture of himself and his brother.

"Why? So you can drug me up and then take my guitar for $900, I don't think so," Casey leaned closer to the brothers with an annoying grin on his face. "Just imagine, you buy it for its face value now, and then 2-3 years down the road, it could be worth $10-$20,000 depending on how high in demand his autograph will be. Patience can be as awarding as an $18,000 profit, my good men," Casey opened the guitar case again to show the brothers the guitar once more.

Both of them drooled a little at the thought of a whopping $18,000 profit for their little store. "I mean, I'm sure you didn't just open your store in a day. You must have put a lot- _some _money away," Casey corrected as he saw that the space was still a work in progress, "to help get this place on its feet. Didn't your patience pay off when you opened the doors for the first time a few weeks ago?"

"It was a momentous feeling when we heard that bell jingle for the first time when a customer walked in," Flim admitted, though Flam didn't seem to budge just yet, "if we're just a little more patient, we could use that money to help expand and buy out that doughnut shop, making even more profit selling breakfast pastries and coffee," Flim envisioned. "I'm sure you could run the emporium while I run the _Flim Flam Brothers' Delectable Doughnut Hut_," he coerced.

Flam responded to his brother with a look of uncertainty. Sure, the value of the autograph was double what this kid thought it was and was asking for, but he knew buying low and selling high was the only way to make a profit. Passing up a $3100 profit if they paid $900 and sold the guitar right away versus a $2000 profit if they bought it for what the kid wanted was not an easy decision. But the alluring idea of an _$18,000_ profit by letting the value accumulate over a few years was also hard to pass up. Besides, Flam knew that both he and his brother had plenty of other overpriced crap in their store that could keep them busy for a further three years.

"$2,000 or I'm walking out," Casey threatened, locking one of the latches on the case. "You could get double what you paid in a week, or wait a few years and be counting money during a month long stay in Miami, your choice."

"Fine!" Flam shouted, "you've got a deal Mr. Mullet," he shook Casey's hand.

"That's Mr. Knight, but whatever," he rolled his eyes. While Flam took the guitar case and set it aside to be put up later, Flim produced the paperwork and $2,000 cash that now belonged to Casey. The sound of paperwork was dreadful to the guitarist, but it turned out to only be a signature there, an initial here and an official stamp on the bottom plus a huge wad of cash.

"Pleasure doing business with you kids," Flim said as he took the paper and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. "Come back anytime!" he added.

"We'll have to think about that!" Applejack said in a salty tone as Casey held the door open for her and Fluttershy. Flim and Flam both stood behind the counter as still as statues, waiting for that euphoric sound of the bell jingling so they could celebrate their first major buy.

"Outstanding, brother!" Flam congratulated. "I do believe that this calls for some bubbly!" he cheered, pulling out a cider barrel marked, _'Property of Sweet Apple Acres,'_ and poured a glass for himself and Flim.

"I know it wasn't easy paying more than we wanted," Flim sipped his cider, setting the guitar on the highest shelf behind the counter, "but at least he didn't know the _real_ value as of now, so we still got a steal!" he clinked his glass with Flam's.

"Eh, sometimes we just have to take one for the store and realize we can't win _every_ negotiation, but the joke's on those clueless children."

_Jingle, jingle, jingle_

The brothers tossed their glasses back on top of the barrel, kicking it into the back room. Another teenager wearing blue jeans, a blue Air Force shirt and a jet black hat entered with his hands in his pockets, whistling a song.

"Anything we can get for you, son?" Flam wiped some foam from his mustache.

"Just checking if you have an PS4 controllers," the boy replied, not even attempting to look them in the eye. Flim ducked under the counter and rustled around a few items as Ivan looked over their inventory. The sound of rustling around drew him over to the counter as Flim reappeared with a black Dual Shock 4 controller with duct tape stuck all around.

"We just got this one in last one, slightly used," Flam grabbed the controller from his brother as the blue X button fell off and clattered to the counter. "How about, $45?" Ivan looked as the pink square button popped off, nearly beaming him in between the eyes.

"Are you out of your mind? That thing's a weapon!" he ducked in case something else would come flying off.

"$40 perhaps?" Flam set the controller down onto the counter. As Ivan sat back up, Flim and Flam noticed that his hat had a NASCAR logo on the side, prompting an idea between the two. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be a fan of NASCAR, would you?" Flam braced himself against the counter. Ivan blinked several times as he looked up at the bill of his hat and back to the two owners of the shop.

"I've seen over 600 races, does that count?" He responded. Flam quickly grabbed the acoustic guitar and gently set it down in front of the boy with a grin.

"Then would you be interested in purchasing this one of a kind authentic acoustic guitar signed by the legendary Jeff Gordon?" Ivan's eyes lit up as he shot his head down to the instrument and stared at the autograph in the middle of the body.

"Only, $5200 how about?" Flim winked to his brother.

"Jeff Gordon you say?" the boy asked, picking up the guitar, fully studying the autograph.

"It's true, we just bought it not two minutes ago, in fact," Flam rubbed his chin. "Big fan are you?" he pressed on, crossing his fingers that praising his favorite driver would push him to buy it.

"My whole life," Ivan squinted and looked over every curve of the signature.

"So then how can you just sit here not owning this piece of rare memorabilia?" Flam asked. "We take cash or credit, no checks," he informed the boy, holding up a fresh pawn ticket. Ivan then chuckled, setting the wooden instrument back onto the counter.

"How much did you say it was?"

"$5200 American if you please," Flim pushed a pen and the ticket towards the boy. "I mean, he just retired last year, what better way to preserve how much you cheered for him?" Ivan did a double take before laughing some more.

"Retired? Last year? He just finished sixteenth at Sonoma about an hour ago," he laughed.

"Say what now, young man?" Flam dug his finger into his ear.

_"THIS_ season is his final season, not last year," Ivan explained.

"But Wikipedia said-" Flim was nearly losing oxygen at this point.

"You guys checked Wikipedia for research? Good God you're stupid, and another thing, $5200? I think that cider you were drinking is a little expired; this piece of junk is only worth $5 at the most!" He exclaimed.

"F-F-F-F-F" both Flim and Flam stuttered, the color draining from their faces.

"You have to be yanking our chains, pulling our legs!" Flam sputtered.

"No, I'm not," Ivan wiped a tear from his eye. "Take a look at this," he pulled his hat from his head, showing them the side, "this stitching is the perfect duplicate of his signature, now compare it to the guitar," he held the hat next to the autograph in question. "That is one poor attempt at forging his autograph, the worst I've ever seen." Ivan reset his hat atop his head. "How much did you guys pay?" he questioned.

"I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOU!" Flam tackled Flim to the ground where a cloud of dust blocked Ivan's view of them.

"YOU COULD HAVE TALKED ME OUT OF IT!" Flim shouted back, rolling around trying to defend himself and beat up his brother.

"YOU COULDN'T GET A CHEETAH TO RUN IF IT WASN'T FOR ME!" Flam bit down on Flim's arm.

"That's what I thought, see you later," Ivan nonchalantly exited the store.

* * *

**(Outside)**

Across the street, Ivan joined Casey, Fluttershy and Applejack who were all sitting in lawn chairs with a cooler full of soda as they watched Flim and Flam beat each other up in their shop. "Well, it's all taken care of, Applejack," Ivan sat down next to his girlfriend who was having a ball witnessing the two men that humiliated her throwing punches at kicks at one another.

"I don't know," Fluttershy said quietly, "it feels wrong that we did what they tried to do to you, Applejack," she admitted sadly.

"It's a little weird, Ah know, but those two needed ta learn a lesson, Fluttershy," Applejack kissed Ivan on the cheek with her dignity fully restored. "Now Ah won't be able ta walk in front 'o their pawn shop without laughin'."

"We're going to put this money to good use, Flutters," Casey assured her, sipping his soda pop. "Besides, their greed blinded them so much that they couldn't see it was their own guitar they just overpaid for," he explained. "It's a good thing too that Joe's storeroom is connected to Flim and Flam's storeroom."

"And that Joe believed I was an electrical inspector!" a man wearing a pair of Navy blue coveralls appeared in a fifth chair with a huge bowl of potato chips. "Ever since I heard they tried to swindle you, Applejack, I was hoping that they'd get what was coming to them," the janitor popped a few chips in his mouth.

"It still feels wrong," Fluttershy repeated. "I know they're meanies that swindle people, but are we any better?" She asked.

"Fluttershy, there's a difference between what they do and what we did," Ivan explained. "They would spend the money on themselves, selfishly, after swindling honest people out of their hard earned cash, but not us."

***Epilogue***

Indeed, the quartet that hatched the plan to get back at Flim and Flam spent the money on those who needed it. Casey gave Fluttershy half of the money that they had gotten from their scheme and she in turn donated it to the animal shelter. The stress of getting even with the con artists lifted off of her shoulders when she saw how much food, water, treats, toys and medication every animal had gotten thanks to her donation.

Casey, AJ and Ivan on the other hand donated the rest of the money to the school, putting it toward newer sporting equipment for the sports teams. "So, this is what you guys do when I'm gone?" Rainbow Dash asked as the twelve friends slurped down milkshakes at Sugar Cube Corner.

"We had the idea ready to go," Ivan shrugged as he slurped only the whipped cream on top of his drink. "And we had nothing better to do," he added.

"Yer tellin' me that ya would have left the X-Games early just fer that?" Applebloom questioned, munching on the cherry from her shake.

"I would have," Scootaloo replied, "for some reason they had _Call of Duty_ as an event," she shuddered. "Now tell me, how is that a sport?"

"Well, as long as the money went to good causes, then I guess it sounds okay," Sunset ate a spoonful of ice cream.

"Tell me about it," Casey bragged, "who would have thought a redneck could have come up with a plan that smart?" he joked. The next thing Casey knew, he had a glob of vanilla ice cream and peanut butter dripping from his nose. Ivan innocently whistled with his arm around Applejack as Casey grinned evilly, sucking down a fair amount of his shake, aiming the straw at Ivan. Just then, Big Mac and Cheerilee walked into the ice cream shop hand in hand.

"Hey Applejack," Big Mac greeted. "Y'all can go swimmin' now; we're done," he winked. Applejack and Fluttershy's faces lit up red.

"Something the matter, hun?" Ivan questioned.

**The End.**


End file.
